¶ Overview
BIAD is an constantly growing decentralized archaeological database. Its geographic scope is currently predominantly Europe, however it continues to expand beyond this, and will become global. BIAD is a relational MySQL database, and this wiki provides all documentation for its use and ongoing development.
From its birth in 2021 BIAD was conceived of as a relational database rather than a data repository. This means that the different data types contained within BIAD are interlinked, allowing cross-referencing and deeper levels of data analysis. BIAD can be accessed to input or retrieve data using any SQL graphical user interface (GUI), direct SQL queries, or a custom R package called BIADconnect, which has useful functions to more easily interact with the database.
BIAD is also currently developing a web interface through which non-experts can easily query and visualise data stored in BIAD. A key principle to ensure constant growth of high quality data is the strict fair usage policies that are governed by a decentralized committee of data contributors. Whilst all data in BIAD will eventually become open access in the public data tier, data can be protected for an embargo period of several years by storing in either a shared tier or a private tier. These tiers are crucial to incentivising collaborators to contribute new data.
¶ Ambitions
To data mine all published archaeological data into a single flexible dynamic relational database.
To converge on a gold-standard template for structuring all new archaeological information as useful data.
To provide a storage location of the highest data hygiene standards for new archaeological reports to publish new data.
To provide a community run decentralised database and user support structures, to ensure the growth, longevity, and knowledge cascade of BIAD.
To ensure data are FAIR, full acknowledgement and citation of data contributors whenever data are used.
¶ Getting started
If you would like full access to BIAD you will need to make a commitment to upload a substantial amount of new data to BIAD. Typically this involves either novel archaeological data, or more commonly aggregating data from published site reports. You can propose this to the current BIAD committee, and if successful you will be invited to become a permanent committee member and receive direct ongoing technical support for data access and input.