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4 figs = 1km 6 figs = 100m 8 figs = 10m 10 figs = 1m.
A: When you give PAS information to enter on to their database, PAS enter into an agreement with you to publish the NGR to 4 figures (eg. SU XX YY) or to hide the grid reference entirely. This will produce an alias for your findspot, whilst still ensuring the integrity of the object record itself.
A: The aim of PAS is to make as much of the information available as possible while protecting your personal details and protecting archaeological sites from damage. Precise details of findspots will be made available to the Finds Liaison Officers, the Sites and Monuments Record, and other statutory bodies such as English Heritage, Cadw and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. PAS hide the findspot by asking the finder if they would like to have the details hidden. If the answer is yes, then the FLO will enter an alias into a database field entitled “known as”. When this field is filled in, you will see the findspot displayed as above (hidden). If left blank then the findspot is 4 figure, and will say SU XX YY [limited].
A: If you report a findspot with a level of precision which is higher than 4 figures (which is the case for 73.5% of our finds during 2003 – 2004), then the only people with access rights to see these full NGRs are: 1) Finds Liaison Officers (35) 2) System admin (1) 3) Finds Advisers (4) 4) Management (4) 5) Researchers All users with an account are asked to fill in an agreement that states any publications that make use of the data that you provide, MUST be published to 4 figure NGRs or less. The ICT Manager constantly audits who is looking at what, and they flag up with FLOs if substantial searches are being made on specific parishes. If somebody breaks this agreement, access rights are withdrawn. Large bodies of data cannot be downloaded from our database on purpose. The only person who can give out this data is the ICT Manager, therefore, they know where this data is going first hand. |
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Q: Should I withold the NGR? |
A: That is entirely up to the individual and the landowner. The FLO recording your data should not pressurise you in to giving up information you are not willing to give. If you state that you want the NGR hidden, then it should be hidden. If the FLO forgets to do this, it is a really easy thing to do. Contact Dan Pett at the British Museum directly if you need this doing and you cannot contact the FLO in question. If you do give the FLO a grid reference, the integrity of the find is far more useful to other archaeologists or heritage professionals.
The information that you give PAS is providing others with a huge corpus of information, that will allow the next generation to perhaps change our perceived or inherited view of a region.
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Data Transfer PAS to HER’s |
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), the National Council for Metal Detecting (NCMD) and the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO) have now been able to agreed the terms and conditions for the transfer of PAS data to Historic Environment Records (HERs) and Sites and Monuments Records (SMRs).
The Portable Antiquities Reporting Scheme has therefore issued the following statement: –
The HERs/SMRs will be able to use PAS data for all their normal purposes, such as development-control work and research enquiries, but they will only publish findspots on the Internet in the same way as the PAS does on its finds database (see www.finds.org.uk). This is to say that no finds will be published on the Internet to more than at National Grid Reference (NGR) of 4 figures (1kmsq), and only at parish (or less) for Treasure finds and finds from sites where the finder, landowner, HER Officer or Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) believes that there is a conservation threat (such as the risk of nighthawking) if the findspot is published.
Designed by Corinne Mills 2005
email [email protected]