Page 408 - Green - Maritime Archaeology: A Technical Handbook. 2nd ed

Chapter 14: Cultural Resource Management 387
where the management of the sites has clearly identified objectives. Man- agement needs to ensure that the site is stable and that it is not being adversely affected. This requires a periodic monitoring or inspection program and probably cooperation with dive tour operators who, as part of the program, could provide information on the current state of the site and report any changes.
D. SHIPWRECK DATABASE
The shipwreck database is one of the most important tools for managing shipwreck sites. The database provides a wide range of information essential or useful to the manager. The construction of such databases requires considerable thought. Several national databases have been constructed that are currently on the Internet including the Australian National Shipwreck Database which was started in 1985 (http://www.ea.gov.au/heritage/lists/shipwrecks.html) and includes over 7000 known Australian shipwrecks; and the Northern Shipwrecks Database (www.northernmaritimeresearch.com), which features more than 100,000 North American shipwrecks and is a research project of Northern Maritime Research.
The structure of such databases is extremely important. In the case of the Australian National Shipwreck Database, considerable debate occurred before the primary variables were decided. These variables were essentially either historical information or location information. It was appreciated from the outset that the establishment of a national database was likely to be a very complex and time-consuming project. First, the various state bodies accumulating the information were doing so on a variety of differ- ent computers using different database programs and inputting information in different formats. The first part of the project was to determine how best to gather these data from the various state bodies and how to import infor- mation into the most appropriate database program. The second problem was that there was no common agreement on how the information con- tained in the variables should be recorded. Thus some states recorded the vessels’ known dimensions in feet and inches using at least three different forms (3ft 6in, 3¢6≤; 3.5ft) together with a metric system. Similarly, dates were recorded in various ways (6 July 1888, 6-7-1888, 6/7/88, etc.). It was essential to resolve these conflicts and to assess the significance of the variables.
In consultation with the state working groups it was decided that some of the fields were either unnecessary, redundant, or required modification. The main purpose of the database was originally thought to be for research,