Who is keeping record? Language documentation in the Pacific
Nick Thieberger, PARADISEC
nicholas.thieberger@paradisec.org.au

The fate of so-called 'endangered languages' has received considerable attention in the popular press and is in part a reflection of the rise of language documentation within the discipline of linguistics. It is common to characterise the efforts of linguists recording indigenous languages as language preservation, but clearly all that linguists can preserve are aspects of a language and the performances that they have recorded. Without proper treatment even these records will be lost. In Australia until recently there has been no means for storing and describing small collections such as those recorded by field linguists in the Pacific and as a consequence this data is usually kept in poor conditions and is not easily located by others. This paper describes a digital archive (the Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC)) and its associated infrastructure. Trusted data repositories of this kind provide a citable form of data that enables creation of complex new research objects, in particular annotation of existing archival sources. These methods are described with particular reference to several legacy collections, including those recorded by Arthur Capell (1950s-1960s) and Stephen Wurm (1960s-1980s).

Archis2: The Dutch Archaeological Heritage accessible on the Internet
Han de Haan, National Service for Archaeological Heritage
h.de.haan@archis.nl
-Paper was formerly noted as being presented by Arthur Sloos

At the Dutch (i.e. Netherlands) National Service for Archaeological Heritage (ROB) the first generation of an architecture and registration system for the Dutch archaeological heritage (SMR: the regional Sites and Monuments Record) was in use from 1992 until 2002. It was called ARCHIS: ARCHaeological Information System. Due to the implementation of the Malta agreement in Dutch Legislation and the rapid changes in the Dutch archaeological establishment, this system had become dated. For several reasons it was not possible to adept the system to meet today’s requirements. It therefore was necessary to design a new Architecture, what has become the next generation of Archis, with the name of Archis2. The first version was launched in 2002, and since then several improvements and extensions have been made.

The architecture of Archis2 has three main stating points:
1. Access to information independent of time and place; 2. Registration of information at the information source; 3. Differential access to information

Points 1 and 2 indicate a high proportion of internet technology, point 3 is the basis of a three layer model. To provide the archaeological heritage management professionals with information, the so called expert information layer has been designed; this is Archis2. Through this layer one can get access to the scientific layer. On this level scanned archives are digitally consultable in a documentation system. On a higher, more general level information is available to the general public. For this purpose we have developed a web portal which gives access to several websites on archaeological subjects. The portal and websites together comprise this general public layer.
Architecture: Archis2 is a fully web based, powered by Java, OpenGIS compliant and has a Windows look and feel. The data are stored in an Oracle database with a spatial component (Oracle 10G). It can be seen as a Geographic Information System (GIS). Both administrative and spatial information are linked together, and can be seen by the user on map layers. With a web browser Archis2 is available on the world wide web for the authorized user (client). Some little applets (Java programs) are automatically downloaded at the client side. The requests from the user are sent (in xml), via the web server (OpenGis complaint), to the application server. The application server (with Mapextreme Java edition) sends the request to the Oracle 10G database. Finally the result of the query is sent back from the application server to the client (in xml/gml language).

Working with Archis2: To make use of the application the user needs a username and a password to logon. After entering the username and password, the Archis2 application presents itself. The user can open different functions, each representing specific tables of information. This includes research reports (ca. 9000), archaeological observations (ca. 60000) archaeological complexes (ca. 1800) archaeological monuments (ca. 13.000 of which about 1800 are protected by law) and more.

There is also a special map function: for each function there is a separate layer available. There are special map layers for orientation and research as topographic maps, land use maps, and soil maps of the Netherlands. The user can open one or more layers, zoom and pan and even change colours of maps. One can make queries on the database, both administrative and spatial. The query result can be printed in a report or a map. If the user is authorised he/she can insert, modify or delete information from the database. For example a spatial contour (shape) of an archaeological monument can be inserted or modified. This is all effectuated directly in the Oracle database. Specific draw tools for the spatial information are available in the application. Our aim at this conference is to show Archis2 real-time. In short the possibilities of the application will be shown to the audience.

Common Metadata Information Space in Uniform Information System of Russian
Academy of Sciences
Dr. A. N. Bezdushny, A.A. Bezdushny, Dr. M.V. Kulagin, Prof. V.A.
Serebriakov
ql@ras.ru

Abstract to be provided at a later date.