Describing research data: a case study for archaeology

The growth of the digital resources produced by the research activities demand the development of e-Infrastructures in which researchers can access remote facilities, select and re-use huge volumes of data and services, run complex experimental processes and share results. Data registries aim to describe uniformly the data of e-Infrastructures contributing to the re-usability and interoperability of big scientific data. However the current situation requires the development of powerful resource integration mechanisms that step beyond the principles guaranteed by the data registries standards. This paper proposes a conceptual model for describing data resources and services and extends the existing specifications for the development of data registries. The model has been implemented in the context of the ARIADNE project, a EU funded project that focuses on the integration of Archaeological digital resources all over the Europe.