It is feasible to collect all the bibliographic information about the hundreds or thousands of site reports currently contained within state underwater archaeologist’s offices and produce a printed copy of those titles. They could be organized in chapters by state. An index could be attached to aid in finding specific reports. It’s even possible to come up with alternate organizational themes and include them in the publication. Let’s examine a similar printed collection entitled Virginia and Maryland Shipwreck Accounts 1623-1950 by Joan Charles. Unlike our bibliographic collection of archaeological report titles this collection contains documented references to shipwreck events but the principals here are the same. Her book catalogs over 1200 shipwreck incidents and displays them three different ways; in chronological order, by geographic area, and by vessel name.4 It is an amazing resource that is very easy to use. It is also arguably one of the most complete collections of shipwreck data for the Chesapeake Bay. And yet this does not seem to be a good model for the bibliographic database discussed in this proposal. Why?

Documents are static and potentially dated the moment they roll off the presses and so like a new car they tend to drop in value as soon as a new discovery is made. Her research was quiet exhaustive and it’s possible there may not be any additions to her list anytime soon. New site reports however, are generated continually. A web based database would be much easier to update than reprinting a publication every year.

Online searching allows the user to define what subsets of data they would like displayed. The shipwreck book while offering three useful ways of finding a particular vessel will now allow me to see a subset that I might be interested in, say all schooners for example. Given proper data preparation our bibliographic database would allow me to see all schooners investigated in as wide an area as I wished. This functionality alone justifies the time and energy required to publish the bibliographic record via an online database. As mentioned in the scope section of this document, the ability to reorganize and query the database in new ways is a creative act that reveals data that not only hasn't been seen but that didn't previously exist.

An online database has an additional advantage over printed material in that with proper coding, contributions to the site can be made by individuals other than the original creator. Once the format for the data has been standardized templates can be supplied to new states or organizations for their use. They can in turn upload their own data without requiring the original creator to be involved beyond perhaps some last minute data validation. This would allow the database to continue to grow without being a constant drain on the originators time. This is not generally an option with a printed publication. Additionally commonly agreed upon metadata standards would allow different organizations to utilize this data within their own database systems. Such interoperability will be key in the future for discovering the real potential of this data set.

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[4] Joan Charles, Virginia and Maryland Shipwreck Accounts 1623-1950(Hampton, VA, 2004). Please note this book is a collection of shipwreck notices from various written sources such as newspapers and insurance records. It includes wrecks that have never been found and make no mention of archaeological investigations.