The ARC/BASE Project

A Comprehensive, Multilingual Bibliographic Database for East Asian Archaeology

What is ARC/Base and why is it needed? The ARC/Base Project is a critical initiative in digital information services for the field of East Asian archaeology. While thousands of new publications are being added to the East Asian archaeological literature each year, researchers in our field still lack a comprehensive, computerized database through which to find them. Simply put, our field has now reached a crisis in its management of bibliographic sources, and because of this, it is becoming more and more difficult to conduct research efficiently and effectively. The ARC/Base Project offers a powerful solution to this crisis. Designed by archaeologists carrying out research across East Asia, ARC/Base will be a continuously updated, internet-based, multilingual database of bibliographic records on East Asian archaeology. This international, collaborative project is being organized by the International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History (ICEAACH) at Boston University (USA). While creating a database that will be as large and complete as ARC/Base is an immense endeavor, the Project’s potential for success lies in its “divide and conquer” strategy. Our large, international team of collaborating institutions will share responsibilities for inputting bibliographic data from their home regions into the ARC/Base database. The end result will be the comprehensive, searchable database that our field now so desperately needs. In recognition of this need, major funding for the implementation of ARC/Base is being provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

What regions does ARC/Base cover? ARC/Base coverage extends across the modern-day areas of mainland China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Siberia, mainland and insular Southeast Asia, and Taiwan. This broad regional scope—along with its multilingual records—distinguishes ARC/Base from previous bibliographic efforts and recognizes a requirement for much research in our field to transcend modern-day political and linguistic boundaries.

What is the scope of ARC/Base and what types of publications does it include? ARC/Base can include bibliographic records in any language covering the diverse range of publications that are commonly incorporated into East Asian archaeological research. In addition to archaeological publications, ARC/Base includes relevant publications in anthropology, history, art history, paleography, geography, environmental sciences, religion, geology, history of science, and numerous other disciplines. Record types comprise individual journal articles (including papers from smaller-circulation, local-level journals), individual papers in edited volumes, books and monographs, excavation reports (including “gray literature” reports from cultural resource management projects—a rapidly expanding body of literature in East Asia that generally remains uncatalogued), dissertations and theses, and selected newspaper articles.

With the large quantity of publications already produced in East Asian archaeology, what is the principal focus for the ARC/Base Project in its start-up phase? We conservatively estimate that there are currently at least 300,000 past publication records that should be included in ARC/Base, with perhaps 5,000-10,000 new records to be added each year. Because of this great number of potential records, during the implementation stage of the ARC/Base Project, we will focus our efforts on materials that tend to be used the most in current research, with a primary focus on publications produced over the last ten years. ARC/Base also emphasizes the collection of bibliographic information not currently found in existing bibliographies and databases. Regional collaborators play a key role in prioritizing what publications are entered into ARC/Base, and they are encouraged to consider their own regional needs when selecting what publications they will cover for the Project.

Will users be able to search ARC/Base using East Asian scripts? Yes, and this is one of the most important strengths of ARC/Base. Over the past several years, with the development of Unicode computer applications, it has become possible to build databases that can incorporate multiple languages and East Asian characters. ARC/Base is unique in our field because it includes records in all native scripts (such as traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Cyrillic, etc.), as well as provides transliterations (Romanization) and translations (into English and possibly other languages).

Will ARC/Base include document retrieval and full-text search features? In this early stage of the project, ARC/Base will not incorporate full-text features. Our focus will be on bibliographic information.

How is the ARC/Base Project organized? The ARC/Base Project is being organized and administrated by ICEAACH at Boston University. ICEAACH is the central node of the ARC/Base network of collaborators. ICEAACH staff, including the Project’s Director, the ARC/Base Project Manager, the ARC/Base Librarian/Reference Manager, and the ARC/Base Database Manager, oversee and manage ARC/Base development, technologies, editorial controls, central administrative functions, and legal/contractual issues. ARC/Base features standardized data input, so all entries submitted by collaborators must receive final editorial “authorization” by ICEAACH before they can be officially incorporated into the database. ICEAACH staff also have responsibilities for translating and transliterating records, and like other ARC/Base collaborators, enter bibliographic records.

ARC/Base collaborators can be based anywhere in the world and can be individuals, research societies, academic departments, governmental organizations, publishers of data, institutions, or any other group. Collaborators’ main roles are to identify bibliographic records and enter them into ARC/Base. One of the many benefits of participating in the ARC/Base Project is that collaborators may choose to enter records into the database that are important to them. This promises to make ARC/Base a highly useful research and organizational tool that can meet the needs of collaborating institutions as well as individual users. ARC/Base can also serve as a highly visible medium for letting others around the world know about important research being carried out by collaborators or in their region.

Phase 1 Institutional Collaborators 

• Peking University, School of Archaeology and Museology (Beijing, China)
• Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Beijing, China)
• National Museum of Prehistory (T’ai-tung, Taiwan R.O.C.)
• Institute of Archaeology, National Center for Social Sciences and Humanities Vietnam (Hanoi, Vietnam)
• Pacific Institute of Geography, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Vladivostok, Russia)

Phase 2 Institutional Collaborators 

• Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C.)
• Japanese Archaeological Association (Tokyo, Japan)
• Eastern Archaeology Research Center, Shandong University (Ji’nan, Shandong, China)
• The Institute of Chu Cultural Studies and Chu Manuscripts, Wuhan University (Wuhan, Hubei, China)
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong)
• Centre for Archaeological Research Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang, Malaysia)
• Department of Archaeology and Art History, Seoul National University (Seoul, Korea)
• Museum Of Far Eastern Antiquities (Stockholm, Sweden)

Regional Project Managers. Because there will be a large number of collaborators in the ARC/Base Project, Regional Project Managers will oversee the efforts of collaborators in each country and will organize data input in their region. The Regional Project Managers ensure that collaborators do not duplicate data entry, that relevant publication records are all entered, and that data entry is complete and accurate. They also will maintain editorial standards, be responsible for proofing data, and, if needed, for training regional collaborators. Regional Project Managers will also be responsible for translating and transliterating some records entered by collaborators in their region. Collaborators submit bibliographic records to the Regional Project Managers, who in turn will submit data to ICEAACH for final editorial checking and entry into the central database. The Regional Project Managers also serve as the main channels of communication for the Project.

How will users access ARC/Base to find bibliographic records? The ARC/Base Project plans to make the ARC/Base data available to users through a Project website search engine. In order to generate income to keep the ARC/Base project going, future access will most likely be through subscription, with special access rights given to collaborators. With the help of collaborators, we plan to make the website viewable in different languages so that users may access ARC/Base using their preferred language. ARC/Base data may also be licensed so that they can be found using other databases and information services, such as the various commercial database services used by libraries.

Will the ARC/Base Project continue to be updated into the future? Yes! ARC/Base is a much-needed research tool, and the need for it in our field will only intensify as more and more publications and reports are produced in the future. We are establishing the ARC/Base Project with an eye toward its long-term sustainability. ARC/Base collaborators enthusiastically support the project because they recognize that it is a great solution to a fundamental problem that affects them and every researcher in our field. There are many benefits to participating in the ARC/Base Project, and it will be through the continued involvement of our collaborators that the ARC/Base Project will continue to grow. Through our collaborative input system, ARC/Base will quickly become an indispensable research tool serving the varied needs of everyone in East Asian archaeology.

About the International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History (ICEAACH): ICEAACH—the institutional home of the ARC/Base Project—was established at Boston University in 1999 with a major grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. ICEAACH supports and coordinates research on East Asian archaeology by US and international scholars and facilitates scholarly communication through publications (including being the editorial home of the Journal of East Asian Archaeology, published by Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden), symposia, and lectures. Our mission is to promote learning about East Asian cultural history in both the academic sphere and the public sphere, and we do this through teaching, consulting, and through a wide range of outreach activities. ICEAACH houses a major East Asian archaeology research library of books and journals, maps, and photographs (the core of which was the library of the late Prof. Kwang-chih Chang) that is open to all interested users. We are also home to archaeological fieldwork projects, and we train graduate and undergraduate students in East Asian archaeology. Additional details can be found on the web at http://www.bu.edu/asianarc.