The Boston Archaeology Database and Storage System

1
The Boston Archaeology Database and Storage System
Project Liaison Ms. Ellen Berkland Boston City
Archaeologist
Mr. John Beckos Ms. Rebecca Dowd Mr. Varun
Suri Mr. Marc Tardiff
2
Presentation Overview

• Objectives
• Archaeology in Boston
• Lab Cataloging and Organization System
• Lab Storage System
• Analysis
• Future Applications
• Acknowledgements
• Questions and Comments

3
Objectives

• Create a system which
• Organizes all inventory in the lab
• Catalogs not only artifacts, but documentation
  and other items in the lab
• Maximizes limited storage space in the lab
• Show the potential for a future archaeology
  database system

4
Background

• Archaeology in Boston
• Significance of Boston in the Historical Record
• Organizations involved with Boston Archaeology
• National Park Service
• Massachusetts Historical Commission
• Boston Landmarks Commission
• City Archaeologist

5
The Archaeology Process

• Research Design
• Discovery of an Archaeological Site
• Verification of a Site
• Excavation of a Site
• Cataloging Processing
• Interpretation of Artifacts
• Physical Storage of Artifacts

6
Lab Organization Requirements

• The organizational system must
• Meet MHC standards
• Catalog and organize all items in the lab
• Maintain the location of all items in the lab, on
  a shelf, or out on loan
• Have the tools to cross reference all items in
  the lab by material, site, time period, or
  function

7
Current Organizational System

• Artifact catalogs are handwritten sheets
  maintained in binders, organized by material,
  stored with the collection. Only artifacts are
  cataloged.
• Locations and contents of containers are not
  currently documented or tracked, when in storage.
  Loan locations are maintained by hand, and
  stored in a folder.
• There is no way to cross reference items
  maintained in the lab.

8
Proposed Database Structure
Accession
Project
Site1
Site2
Provenience1
Provenience2
Features
Maps
Photographs
Drawings
Samples
Grids
Documentation
Artifacts
Location
Storage
Loans

• First, we defined the Data Sets

9
Defining Data Fields
Site Form

• We defined data fields and created tables for all
  of the necessary forms.

10
Main Menu

• The Main Menu offers many options for data entry
  and information retrieval.

11
Accession Information

• When a collection is acquired, the Accession
  Information is entered to establish the origin of
  all items being entered into the database.

12
Project and Site Information

• Project and Site Information further categorize
  the information and items being entered into the
  database.

13
Artifact and Documentation Detailed Information

• Detailed information is added for any item being
  entered into the database. A storage location is
  also assigned.

14
Loans

• When any part of a collection is loaned, it is
  important to track its location and custodianship.

15
Boston Archaeology Lab Storage

• System Physical Storage Parameters
• The lab is comprised of four rooms, with 4,000
  square feet of available floor space for an
  educational area, curation area, and storage
  space.
• Inventory must be systematically assigned a
  location.
• Inventory must be easily retrievable.

16
Current Layout
17
Current Storage System

• Documentation Storage
• Documents are stored either in boxes with the
  collections, file cabinets, or in files at City
  Hall.
• Storage Assignment and Retrieval
• Artifacts are stored in boxes according to
  provenience, and the boxes are stored according
  to available shelf space. There is 1,986 square
  feet of shelf space currently.
• There is no easy way to locate an artifact
  without trial and error.

18
Fully Utilizing Limited Space

• Measured dimensions of rooms and shelving units
• Created a floor plan which increased the
  available shelf space to 3,535 square feet, an
  increase of 1,549 square feet.
• Created a labeling system to describe locations
  of all items that are maintained in the database
  system.

19
Proposed Layout
20
Labeling System

• Each room has a number
• Each Shelving unit has a number
• Each Shelf has a letter
• Each container on a shelf is given a sequence
  number

21
Supplementary Aids

• In order of educate and help understand the
  system we created two user manuals.
• Physical Storage Manual
• Database User Manual

22
Analysis
23
Recommendations

• To prepare for future upgrades, and make the
  database run more quickly
• Obtain a computer with at least
• 64 MB of RAM
• 30 GB Hard drive
• Pentium III Processor

24
Delegate Data Entry

• It will take Ms.Berkland almost seven years to
  enter all of the data if she commits one hour a
  day to data entry.

25
Future Opportunities

• The database has been developed so it can be
  updated to the MHCs completed database system.
• To help show the potential for future database
  improvements, we created maps using MapInfo.

26
MapInfo Boston Archaeology Site Map

• An integrated database and map system starts with
  a map of the city.

27
Site Selection

• As the user zooms in and selects a site, the Info
  Tool may be used to show information that is
  linked to the database.

28
Interface
29
Acknowledgements

• We would like to thank
• Ellen Berkland
• Ann Eliza Lewis
• Professor Hanlan
• Professor Carrera

30
Questions/Comments

• At this time we would like to open the floor for
  discussion.