This virtual short course consists of four two-hour workshops focused on digital data collection in archaeology. Below is a description of each workshop. Links to each recorded session are below and can also found on the DAACS Playlist’s page. Please also visit the DAACS Open Academy GitHub repository, which includes links to workshop videos, workshop slides, and other resources related to the short course.
Workshop 1: Creating a Digital Dataset That Meets Your Research Needs
Workshop Description: This class discusses how to go about turning paper records, or simply just the artifacts, into a digital dataset. The focus is on the critical concepts of creating a dataset and/or database, not the specific programs themselves. Using DAACS as an example, we discuss the importance of creating a standardized database that meets your research needs.
Students will learn:
- How your research objectives are directly linked to the types of data you collect and how you collect them.
- How to develop and refine research questions that can be answered archaeologically.
- How to identify and collect the data you need to answer your research questions.
Workshop 2: Choosing Digital Tools for Archaeological Research
Workshop Description: While DAACS runs on open source PostgreSQL, this class explores the pros and cons of digital tools that most students and scholars are using: Google Sheets, Excel, and Access.
Students will learn:
- Learn about different digital tools and recognize when to apply them. i.e. when do you use a spreadsheet, when do you use a database, when do you use a stats package, when you use a tool to manipulate data.
- How to create a digital dataset that meets your research needs while also conforming to best practices for doing Open Science.
Workshop 3: Working with Legacy Digital Data
Workshop Description: Using example legacy datasets, we explore how to clean up existing digital data up for use in inter and intra site research. We start by parsing a single legacy dataset and move on to discussing how to prepare multiple legacy datasets for comparison. Please note, we do not discuss methods for turning paper records into digital data. This class instead focuses on working with digitized legacy data.
Students will learn:
- How to read legacy data and identify analytical weak spots
- How to identify the bottlenecks in legacy data that may restrict the types of questions you can ask.
- How to address productively the unique challenges of legacy data.
- The basics of data wrangling: identify gaps in the data and discrepancies, learn how to remove or mediate these issues during the data standardization process.
Workshop 4: Pivot Tables, Queries, and Visualizing Your Data
Workshop Description: This class focuses on how to do basic data manipulations in Excel and Access. Learn how to sort and query a dataset in Excel and Access, how to export data from Access and open in Excel to create pivot tables and plots. We will work with example datasets and do small group work.
Students will learn:
- The basics of data manipulation using Excel and MS Access.
- The basics of querying in Access, with a focus on concepts that apply to systems beyond Access.
- Learn key Excel plotting tools.
