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Saturday, October 13, 2007

More on the Open Archaeology Prize

The Alexandria Archive Institute has announced the first annual ASOR Open Archaeology Prize.  From the announcement:

The Open Archaeology Prize is an award for the best open-access, open-licensed, digital contribution to Near Eastern archaeology by an ASOR member. This competition is open to all ASOR members. Members may submit their own project or nominate the project of another ASOR member. A panel of researchers will judge the quality and significance of submitted materials. Evaluations will be based on its scholarly merits and its potential for reuse in research or teaching. To be eligible, projects must be freely available on the Web and downloadable in an open, reusable format. All content must be provided under licensing terms no more restrictive than the Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share-Alike License (see details below). These open licensing terms will help maximize the impact of your research and ensure that others can build on your contributions.

The deadline for submissions is October 26, 2007.

Please email submissions/nominations to skansa@alexandriaarchive.org ...

First Prize: $500
Runner Up: A $200 gift certificate from the David Brown Book Co.

Examples of Eligible Projects:

  • A published paper with accompanying data (in spreadsheet format)
  • Digital materials (videos, games, slideshows) to enhance museum exhibits or instruction
  • Software (and its documentation) that can further scholarship in the archaeological community
  • A “library” of media (such as slides) with associated metadata (keywords, notes, etc.)
  • A video or slide show with accompanying source files and materials that facilitate reuse
  • A specialist database (such as a faunal or plant assemblage, or a corpus of seals, beads, or ceramics), with contextual information and photos, if available....

The Open Archaeology Prize competition is sponsored by the Alexandria Archive Institute, promoting the development and use of open educational resources in archaeology and related disciplines. The Open Archaeology Prize aims to enhance community recognition of open scholarly communication. The competition is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the David Brown Book Company.

Comments

  • "ASOR" is unexplained in the announcement and Google shows many possibilities.  I suppose the members of the relevant ASOR know who they are.
  • In July 2006, the Alexandria Archive Institute announced an apparently different open archaeology prize especially for young scholars.  But my comment on that one applies to the new one as well:  "This is a great way to stimulate good scholarship, bring OA to the attention of...scholars, and (above all) mix the two and ensure that some of the best new scholarship is also OA. Organizations in other disciplines should adapt the idea to their own fields. Kudos to the AAI."
  • AAI also gave an open archaeology prize at an April 2007 conference.