How to Deposit Data with the Archaeology Data Service

Updated

The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) accepts deposits of archaeological and heritage data so that they are professionally curated in the long term and remain easily accessible for future reuse. To deposit, you prepare your data and compile metadata following the ADS "Instructions for Depositors," then submit through the deposit process. The ADS also runs free online "Ingest" training sessions, which are useful if you are new to the process.

What the ADS is

The ADS describes itself as "the digital repository for archaeology and heritage," supporting access, innovation, and research. It holds freely available data-rich project collections, reports, publications, and metadata records that you can search. Deposit is the other side of that same service: it is how new collections enter the repository.

Before you deposit

Two things determine whether a deposit goes smoothly: how your data is organised, and how completely it is described.

  • Data: the files themselves — for example digital images, photographs, primary records, and similar fieldwork outputs. The featured Carlisle Northern Development Route collection, for instance, includes digital images from fieldwork, overhead views and panoramas, aerial photographs, and primary records.
  • Metadata: the description that makes those files findable and reusable. The ADS directs depositors to its "Instructions for Depositors" for how to prepare data and compile metadata.

Start with the Help & guidance section of the site and read the Instructions for Depositors before you begin assembling files. That guidance is the authoritative source for current requirements, so check it rather than relying on second-hand summaries.

Deposit steps

  1. Read the Instructions for Depositors. Find this under Help & guidance. It covers preparing your data, compiling your metadata, and depositing with the ADS.
  2. Prepare your data according to those instructions — organise files and resolve any format or documentation issues before submission.
  3. Compile your metadata so the collection can be discovered and understood by future users.
  4. Submit your deposit using the deposit route described in the instructions.
  5. Consider training if you are new. The ADS has run free online Ingest training sessions; a new round was announced for August–December, four months after the launch of Ingest. Booking is through the site's news and events.

What happens after deposit

Depositing "ensures that they will be professionally curated in the long term and easily accessible for future reuse." In practice this means your collection joins the same searchable body of project collections, reports, publications, and metadata records that the ADS already makes freely available.

Common sticking points

  • Skipping the guidance. The Instructions for Depositors is the controlling document for preparation and metadata; working from memory or an old template risks a deposit that needs rework.
  • Treating metadata as an afterthought. Metadata is what makes a collection reusable, not just stored. Budget time for it alongside file preparation.
  • Assuming training is optional overhead. If you have not deposited before, the free Ingest sessions are the fastest way to learn the current process.

Where to go next

  • Search the database to see how existing collections are presented — a useful model for your own metadata.
  • Help & guidance → Instructions for Depositors for the deposit requirements.
  • News & events for current Ingest training dates and booking.

If your goal is simply to find data rather than deposit it, use the database search instead; deposit is only needed when you want your own material curated and preserved by the ADS.