Casus: National Service for Archeology
The Rijksdienst voor Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek (National Service for Archaeology, Cultural Landscape and Built Heritage or ROB) is currently developing the Nationale Referentiecollectie (National Reference Collection). This collection contains archaelogical objects that are representative for a limited type of objects. Such collections are also called type collections.
As a pilot, the ROB has developed two type collections: a glass collection that consists of 320 objects with descriptions, photos, drawings and references to secundary literature, and the Corpus Middeleeuws Aardewerk [Medieval Ceramics Corpus], which comprises approximately 450 descriptions and drawings of findings.
Coherence in knowledge sharing
Maintaining specialist expertise
Optimal searching
Coherence in knowledge sharing
The ROB strives to share this and future type collections in a coherent way. Users who look for a particular subject should be presented with as much information on that subject as possible, including information that is related to the subject in a particular way. No information should be excluded that is present in some database.
The problem is that the collections are different in nature. This also goes for the databases: each database has been set up for the collection in question and uses specific categories for the description of objects. In order to share this information collectively and coherently, a suitable description model for the objects is required in which the descriptions for existing and future type collections can be accommodated.
The RNA project works with a single flexible description model that offers room for specifications of objects in the glass collection as well as (deviating) specifications of objects in the ceramics collection and type collections that will be developed in the future. The ROB is able to include information in a very efficient way, in all sorts of shapes and quantities. This is done on the basis of the modern RDF format.
Not only can the description model be populated with all sorts of data on the collection, it is also possible to provide links to a reference structure, so that all information on the collections can be easily located.
Maintaining specialist expertise
The ROB also intends to link its collection descriptions to the (internationally developed) Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT). However, the AAT does not offer any room for the specialist, detailed knowledge of the ROB.
The RNA project links the specialist reference structure of the ROB to the AAT without the loss of any ROB knowledge. In this way, users of the AAT can search on in the specialist thesaurus of the ROB.
Optimal searching
To assist users in their searches, the RNA project works with faced navigation. In this way, search queries are narrowed down so that users can quickly find the required information.
