Content Development for American Samoa Historic Preservation Archaeology Database

Clark, Jeffrey

"The content development project consisted of the creation of a set of content fields that provide meaning, utility, and value to a database management system (DBMS) for the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office. The actual creation of the DBMS itself will be carried out by a separate, independent entity. The structure of the listing is a set of seven fundamental components, many of which have subcategories. The first five categories are effectively contextual for the artifacts fields, which are covered in Part 6, the largest complex components. These categories are decomposable, meaning that any combination can be used in the database construction, depending on the needs and desires of the ASHPO. The same holds for the subcategories and for any of the lower level field sets. The list of content fields is laid out so as to make it as clear as possible for the developers as well as the ASHPO staff. Entries need not be made where data do not exist. For instance, there are fields for a variety of metrics (measurements for almost all categories of artifact), but this does not mean that each field must have an entry. The goal was to provide an encompassing, though not exhaustive, set of fields to anticipate the most likely data to be useful to those who might use the database. This is a relational database concept, so each category can be related to others, thus allowing the searching in a variety of ways - for instances, by material or artifact type, or shell rings dated to between AD 500-1000, or whatever starting point or set of variables. This also means that there is not a lot of repetition, such as separate tables for shell adzes and basalt adzes, and artifact attributes, such as cross-sections, are only given once, and not repeated for each type of material. This format is not, therefore, conducive to a paper form. The categories can, however, be used to construct a spreadsheet, or set of spreadsheets for the different categories, but that is a different endeavor. If there is to be an effort to use the fields provided before the establishment of the database, I would encourage the user to implement the fields to be used in an Excel spreadsheet. That should allow for a relatively east migration to the database when it is ready." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office, Executive Offices of the Governor, administered by the Pacific West Regional Office, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior (grant number 60-10-21958).

Content Development for American Samoa Historic Preservation Archaeology Database

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