Side Events

Open-archeOcsean: Forum Discussion on Open Data in Southeast Asian Archaeology

Friday, 31 October, 10 am

This meeting, open to all, is intended as a forum to discuss current issues and perspectives related to open data in Southeast Asian archaeology.

* Pros and cons of open data publication?
* What are the current barriers to open data publication?
* What infrastructures? Is funding necessary?
* How articulating FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsability, Ethics) principles?
* How to train students and colleagues?
* What are SE Asian archaeology specificities to these regards?

To launch and fuel discussions, the “Open-archeOcsean” catalogue of open-source datasets for Southeast Asia and Pacific archaeology will be presented during the first part of the meeting.

Whether you are an expert or a novice, reluctant or an open science advocate, your personal views and testimonies are welcome to collectively move forward in our understanding of the potential and limits of open data publication in SE Asia archaeology!

**A Map to Navigate the Data Archipelago: the “Open-archeOcsean” Catalogue of Open-source Datasets for Southeast Asia and Pacific Archaeology**

Archaeological datasets are sparsely published and distributed, and efforts to collect and assemble them have been an inherent part of this scientific practice for decades. Contrary to other parts of the globe, Southeast Asia and Pacific archaeology does not benefit from large data infrastructures (e.g. “Ariadne” in Europe, “tDAR” in the USA, “ADS” in the United Kingdom, “DANS” in the Netherlands, etc.), resulting in higher dispersion of datasets and research efforts. In this context, an online dataset catalogue has been recently created and coined “Open-archeOcsean” in reference to the European project “OCSEAN. Oceanic and Southeast Asian Navigators” in which it was developed (https://analytics.huma-num.fr/open-archeocsean/). “Open-archeOcsean” is an interactive online catalogue of open-source datasets for Pacific and Southeast Asia Archaeology, designed in compliance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). Based on open-source software and distributed under open licences, this tool collates and allows for retrieving resources relevant to all archaeologists interested in this region of the world. As a collaborative initiative, “Open-archeOcsean” is an evolving tool, and contributions from users are welcome and beneficial to the whole archaeological community and broader audience.