The Open Source Software and Open Standards in Archaeology (IOSA.com, IOSA.it) represents a group of various aged researchers ,from the archaeologically oriented Gruppo Ricerche, at the International Institute of From LiguriaStudies (I.I.S.L.), From IOSA.it:

“The aim of the web site and of IOSA research team is to promote the use of open source software and open standards in archaeological computing. Any help is welcome and users are encouraged to register and contribute through discussion forums. IOSA.it is open to all who are interested in archaeology and free software (free as in freedom).”

The English language website contains a news blog, forums, events, and section of links to various sites and opensource software. The forum does not appear to be too active, but the events and news are rather current. Also, the “software directory” link section is full of interesting sites and software links organized by various research interests and fields within technological archaeology.

The IOSA website represents only a part of a large project being undertaken by the Gruppo Ricerche. Headquartered in Genoa , Italy, the Gruppo Ricerche began pursuing the IOSA project goals in 2004. These goals include:

  1. a greater and better use of computers in archaeological research, also through better knowledge and consciousness;
  2. the spreading of open source not just as software, but as a philosophy too, which is similar to the scientific research model, and therefore is suitable to it;
  3. the education to the use of open source software, both generic software and scientific software;
  4. to promote open standards that are thought for being exchanged on the web, which represents a good way for sharing and publication of research results, at lower cost than traditional methods;
  5. to give students the opportunity to compare between open source software and proprietary software they use everyday, on ready-to-use computers, with generic and scientific software installed;
  6. to start archaeological research projects in which open source software and philosophy are part of the original design and not afterwards applied to it;
  7. to collect archaeologists who are interested in the use of free/libre open source software, through a web site that should work as a portal and discussion forum.

The IOSA.it website allows the Gruppo Ricerche an outlet to discuss thier research and the research of others, host tutorials, and educate others about the benefits of opensource software. It appears that the latter topic is one which the Gruppo Ricerche is quite passionate about. Reading some of the comments on the IOSA.it blog and their “about” page, it is evident that rights free licensing means much more than cheap software. From IOSA.it:

“When we speak about freedom, it’s not an abstract concept in our minds: it is your freedom to have the best tools that fit your needs, and modify them to have them better and better, and redistribute so everybody can take advantage of your work, just like you can do with others’ ones.
We firmly believe that a lot of advantages can come to archaeology this way, resulting in a more scientific approach, better exchange with other disciplines that are already forward on the way, easier spreading of data and results.”

Although IOSA.it is not frequently updated, the mission and ideas of the IOSA warrant a check in every now and then. Reading through the blog posts, there are some interesting topics. The “Transferring of Cultural Heritage with New Technology: Modelling Buildings with Inkscape and Blender” is a very informative tutorial.

Share This