AR01042_WODAN_Final_Report_10.pdf - The Heritage Council

1.3 Phase 2 2009.
In Phase 2, the WODAN integrated wood and charcoal database was built. Particular principals
were adhered to in the building of the database:
• Full involvement with the user community for the standardized inclusion of their own
data into WODAN.
• Developed using open source software and principles.
• Online availability of both data and analysis tools.
In order to maximize the potential of the database it was integral to develop queries which could
effectively deal with the vast amount of data present and effectively ‘turn data into knowledge’.
Two workshops (one International and one Irish) introduced the prototype database to the
specialists and gave people an opportunity to use the database. This led to crucial feedback from
the intended user community, which was subsequently used to change some of the structure and
fields of the database. Standardizing methodologies was an important thread that linked through
the database development in 2009. The workshops were very effectively used to formalize the
standards that would be adhered to in Irish archaeology in the future. In this respect, Ireland is
one of the first countries in the world to develop and agree to this standardized methodology for
charcoal and wood analysis and thereby is at the forefront of international development of this
discipline.
The development of MyWODAN (a personal archive on the website which displays each user’s
results) meant that each specialist will have instant access to their own research. The content of
MyWODAN also acts as an effective CV for wood specialists, providing visible evidence of all
the excavations they have worked on.
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