Networking archaeological data and communities [digital data increasingly inform how communities understand the present and past

The Alexandria Archive Institute will receive $480,624 under a three-year Project Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities' Office of Digital Humanities. The grant will support the "Networking Archaeological Data and Communities" program, which aims to make archaeological data and skills for understanding data more broadly accessible. Key products and services will include professional development workshops for archaeologists on topics like ethically managing data, preparing data for publication, and developing public-facing digital projects. Participants will bridge theoretical and practical aspects of data to develop an open access "Data Literacy for Archaeologists" guide. The program is expected to catalyze collaborative outcomes and individually-driven projects meeting participant needs. It builds on the awardee's prior work publishing archaeological data and providing data literacy instruction.

To make these understandings more democratic and accountable, the scholarly community needs to make data, and the skills and knowledge to make sense of data, more broadly accessible. Networking archaeological data and communities builds on our achievements in archaeological data publishing and data literacy instruction by providing professional development for archaeologists who represent and serve diverse communities. In virtual meetings and in-person workshops, participants will bridge theoretical and practical aspects of data. They will develop ethically appropriate data management plans, prepare data for publication, begin developing public-facing digital projects or pedagogical resources, and contribute to an open access data literacy for archaeologists practice guide. Thus, this institute will catalyze collaborative outcomes and those driven by the needs of individual participants.]