The National Archaeological Record

Abstract

The National Archaeological Record (NAR) is a database of archaeological sites and historic buildings throughout England. Its history is a long one, but it may be directly traced back to the card index and map system developed in the late 1940s by Ordnance Survey for the depiction of antiquities on the nation's maps. It was transferred to the Archaeological Records Section of RCHME in 1983.The NAR currently includes about 140,000 sites and is constantly being updated by a team of ten recorders to include additional information on existing sites and information relating to previously unrecorded sites. This figure is not really an accurate guide to the size of the record because many site complexes (such as town defences and barrow groups) have hitherto not been broken down into their component parts as has been the case in other record systems. The record includes most known sites covering the medieval and earlier periods; for the post-medieval period recording is more selective. The background to the computerisation of the NAR, the system analysis (or definition phases) and a statement of progress and intent up to 1986 was set out in an earlier contribution to these proceedings (Leech 1986). The purpose of this paper is to review developments since then, and to discuss the possibilities for future online access to the record. It is an appropriate time to do this because the main part of the NAR is now computerised, and online access is a reality. The project for the computerisation of the NAR followed the Systems Development Methodology (SDM) supported by Hoskyns Group PLC, the company which provided the system initially. The development life-cycle of the project may be viewed as comprising four stages: definition, design, implementation and review (Fig. 9.1): This stage involved tailoring the logical design into an integrated, computerised system capable of managing all aspects of the project from library book ordering and journal subscriptions through to full archaeological recording to enhance the NAR, using the ORACLE relational database. Future success and performance depends upon the quality of database design and how the system is implemented. Our consultants, Hoskyns, provided much help in the project management, database design and implementation planning stages. Database security, levels of access, user privileges and documentation were planned at this stage. ORACLE is a major relational database product with a comprehensive set of tools for application development and end-user access and features the computer industry standard Structured Query Language (SQL). The SQL language is its core and determines how data is defined, manipulated and controlled. SQL is easy to use and