Synchronized Data Management and Its Integration into a Graphical User Interface for Archaeological Related Disciplines

• Published in: Design, User Experience, and Usability: Users and Interactions pp. 317 - 329
• Main Authors: Kaltenthaler, Daniel, Lohrer, Johannes-Y., Kröger, Peer, van der Meijden, Christiaan H., Obermaier, Henriette
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 2015
• Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Subjects: Cloud Service; Graphical User Interface; Input Field; Internet Connection; Synchronization Process
• ISBN: 9783319208978; 3319208977
• ISSN: 0302-9743; 1611-3349
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-20898-5_31

In this paper, we describe xBook, a generic, open-source e-Science infrastructure for distributed, relational data management that is particularly designed for the needs of archaeological related disciplines. The key feature of xBook is that it can be used as an offline resource at remote sites during excavations and can be synchronized with a central server at any time. While some scientists can record data in xBook in the field where no internet connection is available, colleagues can already work with and analyse the previously synchronized data via the central server at any location in the world. Incarnations of the xBook framework are used in archaeology, and archaeobiology (anthropology and archaeozoology). We will highlight one of them, OssoBook, an e-Science service that implements a data model for animal remains from archaeological sites (mainly bones) and has emerged as one of the European standards for archaeozoology.