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The objective of the current NSF grant is to prototype a data integration system that allows researchers to extract sensibly integrated and appropriately scaled databases of analytically comparable observations from numerous archaeological databases gathered using incommensurate recording protocols. Query-dependent, on-the-fly data integration will be effected using the detailed metadata associated with databases and expert knowledge encoded as *ontologies* and rules. In computer science, the challenges are to develop methods: to perform _ad hoc_ data integration where the semantic demands of the query are reconciled with the semantic content of the available datasets; and to resolve conflicts in concept-oriented query processing that arise from inconsistent recording strategies (represented as ontologies).

*Using tDAR.* In tDAR, *information resources* are registered either as *independent resources* or as part of a set of information resources associated with a single *project* (such as an archaeological field project). Each project and each information resource is registered with metadata that provide the archival and semantic information that will permit their long-term preservation and use. For databases (and spreadsheets), the metadata includes information on the individual tables, columns, and rows, along with the *coding sheets* that provide the semantic labels for encoded fields.

tDAR users must register and agree to a user agreement but access is free. Those wishing access to sensitive information (such as site location) or desiring to contribute data to the repository must receive additional approval. This prototype accepts Microsoft Access databases and Excel spreadsheets, reports and other documents in PDF or plain ASCII format, and images in JPG and TIFF format. Additional data formats will be accepted in the future. The prototype integration effort focuses on archaeological faunal data but will be readily extensible to other material classes.

h4. [{color:#990000}Use the beta version of tDAR{color}|http://beta.tdar.org/]

h3. Resources

* [The Digital Antiquity Initiative|http://www.digitalantiquity.org/confluence/display/DIGITAQ/Home]

h3. Related Links

* [Archaeoinformatics.org|http://archaeoinformatics.org]
* [Society for American Archaeology|http://saa.org]
** [SAA Digital Data Interest Group (DDIG) Home|http://http://www.saa.org/aboutSAA/interestGroups/digidata.html]
** [DDIG Statement of Purpose|http://www.alexandriaarchive.org/blog/?page_id=4]
* [International Council for ArchaeoZoology|http://www.alexandriaarchive.org/icaz/]