Procedures for Measuring Women's Influence: Data translation and manipulation and related problems

Penelope Allison [1], Patrick Faulkner [2], Andrew Fairbairn [3] and Steven Ellis [4]

[1] School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Email: pma9@le.ac.uk
[2] School of Social Science, Michie Building, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia Email: p.faulkner@uq.edu.au
[3] School of Social Science, Michie Building, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia a.fairbairn@uq.edu.au
[4] Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati, PO Box 210226, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0226, USA Email: steven.ellis@uc.edu

Summary

Preparing data from artefact catalogues of previously published German excavation reports, in the project 'Engendering Roman Spaces', required ongoing refinement of data translation and digital manipulation using a variety of software packages. This process included the use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software, spreadsheets, database and graphics programs, and the final presentation of the data in ArcGIS as an interpretative tool. With each step, a number of challenges were encountered relating to the quality of the data and original cataloguing processes, and the limitations of the software packages being used.

Excavation reports of four Roman military sites - the forts of Vetera I, Ellingen, Oberstimm and Rottweil - are used in this article to highlight the range of problems encountered and solutions arrived to resolve them, a process requiring constant revision and refinement.

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