One of the most interesting aspects with the short-listing of the Framework FreeViewer in the Best Archaeological Innovation category of the British Archaeological Awards comes from the juxtaposition to the aims and methods of one of the competing entries.
This is the LEAP Project Exemplars produced as a joint venture between Internet Archaeology and the Archaeology Data Service. They have a very useful explanation of the background and implementation of the project.
The fascination lies in the similar problems addressed by both the LEAP Project Exemplars and the Framework FreeViewer and the very different technologies and decisions used to approach them.
Looking beyond the contrast of web-based and desktop-based technologies and the relative strengths and weaknesses of each approach, it will be interesting to see whether the integration of a GIS application within the text of an article is something that is preferred.
One thing seems certain: any application that allows us to assess the nature of the archived digital data quickly has to be a good thing; perhaps even a necessary courtesy to those hoping to use the archives.
After all, Framework Archaeology has 1,526,994 records in the GIS and database covering the archaeological fieldwork at BAA Ltd's airports. Then there are 50,000 plus digital images. Not unreasonably we have our own data structures for those records, and we have no desire to lessen the enthusiasm of a reader by forcing those structures to be learnt as a pre-requisite of exploring our excavation archives.
Now scale that up to cover the entirety of the UK and imagine just how large the archives stored at the Archaeological Data Service might one day be.