DANS is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences which promotes sustained access to digital research data. It takes part in projects, provides training and archiving services amongst other activities. The Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands is a partnership project which aims to document and publish metal detector finds from private collections. Metal-detecting in topsoil has been legal in the Netherlands since 2016, with an obligation on metal detector users to report finds with historical or archaeological value. PAN brings together finds experts and metal detector users to enable reporting of finds.

1. dans.knaw.nl
DANS is een instituut van KNAW en NWO
Linking local people and scientists through metal
detector finds
Data Archiving and Networked Services
Nina Gerritsen
June 20th 2018, Lund

2. Presentation content
• DANS introduction
• EASY: finding and viewing datasets
• PAN-project: past and present
• PAN and DANS
• What about the future?

3. Data Archiving and Networked Services
• Established in 2005 (predecessors dating back to 1964) as an
institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
(KNAW) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
(NWO)
• DANS promotes sustained access to digital research data. For this
purpose, DANS encourages scientific researchers to archive and
reuse data in a sustained manner, e.g. by means of the online
archiving system EASY: https://easy.dans.knaw.nl
• The e-Depot for Dutch Archeology (eDNA) is embedded in EASY

4. DANS main services and activities
Data during research
https://dataverse.nl
Data after research
https://easy.dans.knaw.nl
Research information
http://www.narcis.nl
Training and Consultancy
Projects

5. Electronic Archiving SYstemEASY Register Log in
New deposit
BrowseAdvanced search
Search help
Search
Disclaimer
Legal information
Property Rights Statement
How to cite data
https://easy.dans.knaw.nl
Data Seal of Approval / Nestor Seal 2016

6. Access
Remarks
Access rights
Date available
Open access
-Unrestricted access for all users without registration
or
-Unrestricted access for all registered EASY users
Restricted access
-Access restricted for registered archaeologists
-Registered users after depositor permission is granted
Embargo
-Until 2 years after date deposited
Access rights

7. CARARE-project:
‘Open Access’ archaeological publications visible in Europeana
http://www.carare.eu/

8. Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands
Aims to document and
publish metaldetector finds
from private collections

9. PAN – Why?
• Save (highly specific) knowledge
from oblivion
• Reference collection for future
research
• Opportunity to “open up” ,
without an enforcing aspect

10. PAN – “seekers”
Metaldetecting legal since 2016 (in topsoil)
Obligation to report finds with probable historical
or archaeological value
Permission needed from landowners

11. PAN - Experts
- Determination
- Interpretation
- Registration
- Professional
photography
NB: informal network
(trust)

12. PAN – Audience
NB: Fear of losing sole access to and knowledge of a findspot. Detailed
geographical information is hidden to other explorers. Permission has to be
granted for access to for example scientists.
- (Academic) archaeologists
- Heritage sector (Museums, local/regional
government, National Heritage Agency
- General public (Schools, interested individuals)

13. PAN –

14. PAN – Classification
Classification by
using Art and
Architecture
Thesaurus (AAT)

15. PAN – Future goals
• Broaden network: from c.350 “seekers” towards..
• Train volunteers to help with registration
• Courses/training for “seekers”

16. PAN – DANS
• First tests: 1000 records
• Connection NUMIS database/ international databases (linked data)
• AAT: linking grey literature (metadata enrichment in EASY)
• EUROPEANA

17. PAN – Challenges
• Informal network: how does this
work on a larger scale for
”seekers”, experts and audience?
• Broadening the network of
seekers? Incentive & protection
• International cooperation

18. Tack! Thank you!
www.portable-antiquities.nl
www.easy.dans.knaw.nl
Contact: nina.gerritsen@dans.knaw.nl