Title: The Critical Role of Spatial Data in Cultural Resource Management
1The Critical Role of Spatial Data in Cultural
Resource Management
- Cultural Resource GIS Facility
- National Park Service
2Locating Cultural Resources
- Locational information is a key factor in
understanding cultural resources, and their
treatment - Knowing the location of a resource on the ground
provides more than an understanding of where
the resource is - Geographic clues provide information about the
human and environmental influences on cultural
resources, helping to explain why the resource
exists and how it relates to others - A geographical context provides managers with a
different perspective on our resources, allowing
us to see the interaction of resources, and
larger trends
3Understanding Cultural Resources
- Spatially, we consider each resource a single
entity - Each individual resource is viewed from several
perspectives however built features,
archaeological sites, cultural landscapes, museum
objects, etc. - Any one resource may be viewed from multiple
perspectives or disciplines
Colonial National Historical Park Shown Core and
study areas of Revolutionary War battle and
historic features from Civil War battle Databases
involved landscapes, landscape elements, built
features, archaeological sites, museum objects,
HABS documented structures, LCS features
4Understanding Cultural Resources
- Organizationally, we separate out each cultural
resource category and catalog each in a separate
database - This results in a specialized look at cultural
resources, focusing on single aspects of a site
rather than all aspects of a site - The larger perspective, and the interconnection
of resources to landscapes becomes masked when
looking only at a single aspect at a time - Resource managers and planners must refer to
multiple data sources to find the available
information on a single cultural resource
- NRIS National Register Information System
- NHL National Historic Landmarks
- HABS/HAER Historic American Buildings
Survey/Historic American Engineering Record - CLAIMS Cultural Landscapes Automated Inventory
Management System - LCS List of Classified Structures
- ERI Ethnographic Resources Inventory
- NAGPRA Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act - ANCS Automated National Catalog System
- ASMIS Archaeological Sites Recording and
Management Information System
5The Database Problem
- There is no umbrella organization or methodology
for linking all of the cultural resource
databases together - The existing databases serve important purposes
and maintain specific data that can not be
collapsed into a single cultural resource
database - Geography can be used as a means of integrating
the databases however - One location can be used to reference multiple
databases
6The Location Problem
- If geography is used to tie the cultural resource
databases together, it must be standardized to
insure consistency and quality - There are few requirements now to collect
coordinates in a specific way, other than the
National Register standards - There are conflicting requirements on the level
of detail required for resource locations
- Can we agree on one method of collecting data,
and one level of accuracy? - Can we create one database to store the
locational information, and contain links to the
cultural resource databases? - Should resource managers continue to collect
coordinate locations for each database,
regardless of whether a single resource appears
in multiple databases? - Should data collection be at the scale of
individual resources?
Detail can be important for the users of our
data. Looking at a district boundary provides
very different information from the contributing
resources.
7The Need for Consensus
- The NPS is a Federal Agency, producing spatial
data that describes cultural resources, and
therefore must follow specific rules outlined by
Circular A-16 - Data we produce is part of the National Spatial
Data Clearinghouse and must follow the standards
produced by the Federal Geographic Data Committee - Circular A-16 designates the NPS as the lead
agency for cultural resources, responsible for
the stewardship of the data
- assess existing standards and identify needs
- develop and implement FGDC standards
- develop plan for the implementation of standards
and population of the data set - collect and analyze information regarding user
needs - publish data online
8Does this Circular apply to NPS programs?
- Circular A-16 applies to your program if you
- collect,
- produce,
- acquire,
- maintain,
- distribute,
- use,
- or preserve
- paper maps or digital spatial data to fulfill
your mission
9What types of data activities does the Circular
apply to?
?All spatial data and geographic information
systems activities - financed by federal
funds. ?For example A-16 applies to National
Mapping Program (USGS) National Wetlands
Inventory (FWS) National Public Land Survey
System (BLM) Natural Resource Inventory and
Monitoring Program (NPS)
?It also applies to National Register
Program Cultural Landscape Inventory Ethnographi
c Resource Inventory Historic American Buildings
Survey and all other cultural resource survey
programs
10The Need for Consensus
- We also need to provide quality spatial data for
our own research and resource management needs - Planning is a priority for all park units,
particularly those involved in the creation of or
revision of General Management Plans - Understanding where our resources are
is critical to their protection and the
development of appropriate
treatment
strategies
11Efforts Underway
The problems facing cultural resource database
managers are not new. Many parks and regional
offices are already trying to address the issues
tied to locational data.
- Pacific region trying to tie maintenance
databases to cultural resource databases - Southwest region trying to tie archaeological
survey information together with the national
archaeological sites database - Midwest region trying to tie cultural landscape
data to other cultural resource databases and
launch information on the internet - Northeast region trying to tie archaeological,
structural, and landscape databases to
maintenance and natural resource databases at the
park level - Individual parks working to create their own
links between cultural databases and other data
sources for planning and management - Cultural Resource GIS Facility working to create
guidelines, standards and assistance for GIS and
cultural resource communities
12Accomplishing our Goals
- The Cultural Resource database managers must
first come to a consensus regarding how they want
to collect spatial data, and at what level of
detail
- We need guidelines for the national cultural
resource database managers to provide information
on how to make their databases compatible with
GIS - We need to create spatial data standards to
address new data collected, as well as legacy
data that already exists in our databases - We need to create content standards that define
what information we collect and distribute to
describe each of the cultural resources - We need to create metadata standards to document
how we created our data, when it was created,
what the attributes contain, and other details of
the data itself
13Bridging the Gaps
- If we can find a way to generate consistent and
accurate entity-based spatial cultural resource
data, we can bridge the gaps between the cultural
resource databases in a meaningful way
- Results will lead to better management of
cultural resources as the park, regional and
national levels - By creating standards we can insure consistent
quality across the NPS and throughout the federal
agencies - Creating standards and guidelines based on our
current practices will insure their continued use
and help state/local agencies work from our
example
14What does this mean for the Cultural Resource
Programs ?
- Since most NPS cultural programs collect spatial
data, we need to fulfill our A-16
responsibilities - Since NPS is the lead agency for the cultural
resources data theme it is most important to get
our own house in order before advising others - Once we have gained experience in this arena we
can go on to confidently fulfill - our responsibilities as lead agency
- CRGIS sponsored a Cultural Resource GIS
workshop
to begin addressing some of these
issues
15Cultural Resource GIS Workshop
- The workshop took place on 22-23 October 2003 and
focused on open discussion regarding our
responsibilities and various means of linking the
cultural resource databases - Participants included
- NPS cultural resource database managers and
users - Regional NPS GIS coordinators
- The National NPS GIS coordinator
- Members of the Federal Geographic Data
Committee - National Trails System representatives
- NPS park unit GIS users
- Executive Director of the National Center for
Preservation Technology and Training - Executive Director of the National Conference
of State Historic Preservation Officers - Assistant Director, National Center for
Cultural Resources
16Workshop Questions
- What is the best way to link the
cultural
resource databases
together and still
maintain the
autonomous database structures? - Should all resource types be
contained
in the same theme and
how should the
resources be
described? - What is an effective way to
generalize
sensitive resource
data, yet provide
enough
information for preservation
planning? - Through what means can accurate locational
information be collected and incorporated into
the existing cultural resource databases? - How can accurate locational information be found
for legacy resource data already entered into the
existing databases?
17Guiding Principles Agreed Upon
- Spatial representation of cultural resources is
important for their protection and management - Each cultural resource database needs to remain
autonomous - A unique ID needs to be created for each cultural
resource entity to enable linking between
databases and use in a GIS - Each unique feature will have a unique spatial
representation - Discipline experts for the predominant
characterization of a feature should be
responsible for the spatial boundary
determination - Standards should be defined for how each resource
type will be represented, and at what level of
accuracy, scale and resolution - Standards may need to be different for legacy
data and new data - Questions we are asking of these datasets should
drive the resolution and accuracy of spatial data
layers
18Potential Standards and Guidelines Discussed
- Cultural resource program managers need to
require locational data be collected for each
resource - Guidelines should define how cultural resource
spatial data can be used - Standards should define how each type of resource
should be represented - Standards should define the accuracy required for
each type of resource - Standards should define when to use various
levels of resolution - Standards should define a datum and coordinate
system for national scale data - Standards should define when sensitive data can
be released - Metadata standards should define the attribute
fields in each database - Metadata standards should define how each
boundary is defined - Guidelines should define what spatial data to
collect survey boundaries, transects, intrasite
features, etc. - Guidelines should define how and when updates
occur
19What are we doing now?
- Create a committee to look at options for
securing locational data on sensitive resources - Conduct a cultural resource GIS needs assessment
nationally - Create and prioritize a list of potential
standards and guidelines - Draft high priority standards and guidelines with
the help of the cultural resource community - Once several standards
are drafted, test the
feasibility of linking the
cultural resource
databases together using
a geographic area as a
pilot project
20What Does All This Mean for You!
- RIGHT NOW,
NOTHING
except - need you input as the draft
standards are
developed - need you to do reality checks to
see if they are realistic - Eventually the spatial standards
will be a catalyst for change in
four key areas of landscape survey - Field Mapping
- Global Positioning Systems (GPS) will be used to
map cultural landscapes - Field Observation
- GPS Data Dictionaries will bring CLAIMS into the
field - Cultural Landscape Development
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will help
you build and display historic landscape contexts
over time - Data Distribution
- Metadata (data about data) will improve the
documentation behind your survey