ARIADNE RI
As a member of ARIADNE RI (Advanced Research Infrastructure for Archaeological Dataset Networking in Europe), SND contributes to an international collaboration with 25 organizations to further develop the transnational portal for archaeology and cultural heritage.
What is the ARIADNE RI?
The ARIADNE Research Infrastructure AISBL (ARIADNE RI) was founded in November 2022. It is a not-for-profit association, established according to Belgian law, but capable of operating at an international level. Its primary aim is to continue the work of ARIADNEplus (2018–22) and the previous ARIADNE Integrating Activity (2012–16). By the end of 2022, these projects had established a portal for linked open data (the ARIADNE portal), which provides access to over 3.9m data resources. These encompass the archaeology and heritage of 4 continents and over 40 countries, ranging from the archaeology of the earliest hominids to the present day.
The purpose of the ARIADNE RI is to:
- Promote, support and develop the use of digital techniques applied to the arts, humanities, cultural heritage and in particular to archaeology;
- Contribute to the development of software tools to operate on digital data in these sectors;
- Promote and encourage the creation of open archives with the data produced in these fields by research and management;
- Maintain and develop management tools allowing the integration of digital data archives in these sectors;
- Continue to manage the integration of the archaeological data archives developed in the ARIADNE and ARIADNEplus projects, expanding and updating the digital catalogue already available online and the associated digital infrastructure;
- Support this work with the necessary communication tools.
SND’s role in the ARIADNE RI
SND contributes technical expertise in the continued development and maintenance of the Ariadne portal. SND also strives to add more data from Swedish research in the portal to make these data more accessible for international researchers. As a member of the ARIADNE RI, SND can take part in projects and collaborations as part of a larger organization, as is the case in ATRIUM. SND is also represented in the ARIADNE General Assembly, where we can influence the development of ARIADNE.
Benefits to the research community
Through their wide range of members, ARIADNE RI represents a large international grouping of archaeological data repositories, national heritage bodies, museums, scientific research organizations, and universities. The amount of data from many countries, time periods, and disciplines creates unique opportunities for finding data materials in a way that has previously not been possible. Data materials and other resources (e.g., training materials, reports, and guides) are openly accessible to researchers and students in Sweden.