Users and Contributors

All information on the PACP is linked to users and contributors. 

• Users submit data.
• Contributors receive attribution credit for submitted information. 

If the information you are submitting is the result of your own work, then you are both a user and a contributor. If you are submitting information published by somebody else (even somebody deceased), then that person is the contributor; you are submitting information on their behalf.

 

Registration (for a video tutorial about registration, click here).

In order to submit information to the PACP, you must register as a user. On the registration page, you will be asked for an email address, a password, and (if applicable) an academic affiliation. Once you are registered, you will be able to submit information.

When you initially register as a user, you may also check a box to register yourself as a contributor. Registering as a contributor creates a profile page. On that page, you may provide further information such as research interests and specialties, a CV and a photo, a link to an academic website, etc. Profile pages allow people to find out more about PACP contributors and facilitate contact among researchers. Profile pages also list all data on the site for which you are listed as the contributor, whether submitted personally or by somebody else on your behalf. The data are arranged by category: wares, petro-fabrics, vessels, petrographic information, etc.

You may also register somebody other than yourself as a contributor. In order to do this, you must first be registered as a user (because only users can submit information to the PACP, including when that information is a new contributor). To add a new contributor, go to the Submit tab on the navigation bar; from the available choices, select “Add a contributor.” You will be taken to a blank contributor profile page. When registering somebody else as a contributor, you only need to enter a first and last name. Remember: being a contributor does not automatically allow you to submit data to the PACP; you must also be a user to do that. (For a video tutorial about adding a contributor, click here.)

If someone has already registered you on the PACP as a contributor, and you would now like to submit data to the site, then you should register as a user (see above) and contact the PACP Co-Editors to have your contributor profile connected to your user account.

Once you are registered, you can always find the information that you have submitted to the PACP by clicking in the “View submission history” box in the upper right corner of the screen. Contributors can find information that they have submitted or that has been attributed to them by going to their profile page and selecting from the boxes on the left side.

 

Browse/View Information

Anybody can browse and view information on the PACP. It is not necessary to register or sign in; the site is designed to make information about American ceramics readily accessible to all.

Browse allows you to view abbreviated lists of specific categories of information: wares/ware families, types, petro-fabrics, petrographic samples, vessels, kilns/workshops, sites, and the PACP master bibliography. On any browse page, you can refine your results by sorting the columns or filtering for specific search terms in the box above each column. To see more information, click through to an item’s full display page or on any hyperlinked column entry displayed in the table.

The utility of browsing depends on the amount and details of the submitted information. As more data is added to the PACP, this tool will become more powerful.

On the view pages, you can find definitions, descriptions, dates, illustrations, and other related data for wares/ware families, types, petro-fabrics, vessels, petrographic samples, kilns/workshops, and sites. You can also find the name (and email, when available) of the contributor, meaning the scholar to whom the information is attributed, the name and email of the person who submitted the information, and publication references, when available.

 

Submit Information

To submit data, select Submit from the navigation bar, and choose from the available options. You may submit wares, types, petro-fabrics, individual vessels and illustrations, petrographic data, kiln site information, bibliographic references, and new contributors. You may also submit multiple vessels via the bulk upload option.

PACP submission can be partial; you do not need all relevant data about a ware/ware family or vessel in order to submit information. For example, user A may submit a ware/ware family name and description; users B and C may submit individual vessels that are made in that ware/ware family; user D may submit a petrographic description and thin section of one of those submitted vessels. In this example, all of this information will appear on the ware/ware family page, with each submission linked to its user(s) and contributor(s). In addition, each submission appears on its own individual page. It is also easy to return at a later date and add new information, or change existing information.

• Wares/ware families (click here for a video tutorial about submitting wares)
  • A ceramic ware/ware family is a term for vessels that share at least two of the following characteristics: (1) a single petro-fabric, meaning the same clay source; (2) manufacturing processes, including preparation, forming, and firing; (3) common vessel shape(s); or (4) approach to finishing and decoration. Potters may manufacture vessels of the same ware for a limited time or over a long period, and even over several centuries.
• Types (submitting a type is similar to the process for submitting a ware - see above)
  • A ceramic type represents a subset of vessels within a ware that share an internally cohesive cluster of attributes. The type-variety system of ceramic classification is widely used by American-trained archaeologists; however, the ongoing utility of this approach is continually debated.
• Petro-fabrics (click here for a video tutorial about submitting a petro-fabric)
  • Petro-fabric refers to the type and source of clay used by a potter. Petro-fabrics are defined by distinctive mineral characteristics; they derive from specific geological formations and associated sediments. The identification of a vessel’s petro-fabric may indicate its raw material source but not the date of the vessel, because the same clay source may have been used over centuries or even millennia.
• Sites (click here for a video tutorial on how to submit a site and its assemblage data)
  • Archaeological sites are defined in different ways but for our purposes, it is the location where a ceramic vessel was recovered. It is not always legal and/or ethical to submit the exact coordinates of an archaeological find so the PACP does not require such data to be submitted. Instead, you can choose the list of country/region options, fill in your own subregion, and provide a general description of where the vessel was found.
  • Site assemblages can also be added as the frequencies of types recovered from different contexts within an archaeological site. In some cases, this will involve multiple excavation projects from different areas within the same site so multiple contributors will need to be added to a site’s view page. For a type to be displayed in the site assemblage table, at least one vessel of that type must be entered into the PACP and associated with the site.
• Vessels (click here for a video tutorial on how to submit a vessel)
  • To submit an individual vessel you must provide a unique number or label. This can be an excavation or registration number, drawing number, or other unique identifier. The PACP uses this number to connect the vessel with other associated information, including ware, petro-fabric, illustrations, petrographic analysis, etc.
  • When submitting a vessel, you may also associate it with a ware, type, petro-fabric, and/or kiln/workshop, by selecting from a drop-down menu of those that have already been added to the database. The PACP will automatically link your vessel, and it will show up as an example on that ware, type, petro-fabric, and/or kiln/workshop page. If you do not know the example’s ware or petro-fabric, or if neither has been defined, you may still add the vessel to the PACP. Subsequent steps in the vessel submission process ask for other information such as date, place, and context of recovery, manufacturing technique, illustrations, and bibliographic references.
• Illustrations (click here for a video tutorial on how to submit an illustration)
  • Illustrations or photographs can be added to any existing vessel in the PACP. To do so, simply select or enter the vessel’s unique number in the first field, and then upload one or more images of that specific vessel. You may add multiple images of the same example, e.g., drawings, photographs, details, etc.
• Petrographic samples can also be entered into the PACP but must be linked to an existing vessel entry. This is done by entering the vessel’s unique identifier as Step 1 of the submission process. Subsequent steps allow you to enter the mineralogical data connected to that vessel, whether seen in a thin section or a magnified break, as well as associated photomicrographs.

When entering data, you may move around in the submission process by selecting from the numbered bubbles at the top of the screen. It is not necessary to fill in every box on the submission pages (so don’t worry if you don’t have all of the requested information). To submit the information, go to the final, summary page and click the "Submit" button on the upper right.

 

Illustration Guidelines – photographs and drawings

Photographs and drawings are an enormous help in visualizing a vessel. Below are suggested guidelines for PACP images.

• Format: images may be saved in .jpg, .tiff, .gif, or .png format.
• Size: 300 dpi or greater, and sized to 10 x 15 cm (4” x 6”).
• Scale bar: when possible, at the bottom or side.
• Color card: when possible, at the bottom of the image.
• Photographs:
  • Complete vessels: a straight-on view of the vessel’s full profile, set against a solid color or matte white backdrop.
  • Fresh breaks: a close-up shot with raking light from the upper left corner of the frame.
  • Sherds: placed flat on a solid color or matte white background, with either general light or raking light from the upper left corner of the frame.
  • Drawings: sharp black and white images are preferred.
     

Bibliographic references 

On the submit page for any PACP entry, you may click the “Add reference +” button to search for and select from the bibliographic references that have already been added to the PACP Master Bibliography. If the reference you are searching for has not yet been entered, then you can do this after finishing your submission and adding it to the appropriate PACP entries using the bulk edit function. You may want to consult the site’s Master Bibliography before submitting a reference; you can find this under the "Browse" tab on the navigation bar.

Once a bibliographic reference is in the PACP system, you may link it with any individual item or entry, along with additional information, such as specific pages, figures, plates, etc.

 

Editing Information

All PACP entries can be edited. Editing privileges are restricted to the original submitter(s) and contributor(s) of the data as well as the PACP Editors. The ability to edit means that the PACP can remain up-to-date since new data can be integrated with older information. In this way, the PACP can continue to reflect the state of current knowledge and expand along with our understanding.

To edit an entry, select the pencil icon in the browse list or click the “Edit” button in the given field on a display page (note that this icon will only appear if you have editing privileges). This will take you to the selected step of the submit page. Once there, you may move around to any step and correct or add additional information. To submit the information, go to the final, summary page and click the "Submit" button on the upper right.

If you are not a contributor to a specific entry, and have information to add or suggestions for change, you may either contact the contributor or person who submitted the information directly, or you may contact the PACP Co-Editors.

 

Privacy

When submitting any type of information, you may select from three privacy levels:

• Public: information is visible to anybody who consults the site.
• Restricted: information is visible only to specified individuals.
• Private: information is visible only to the user/contributor.
   

Notifications

Contributors can enable a notifications feature by logging on, going to their contributor profile, and clicking on notifications settings. On the settings page, you can control the following options:

• Frequency of Notifications: choose whether to receive notifications instantly or in a bundle daily, weekly, or monthly.
• Mode of Notifications: choose to receive notifications via email and/or simply via an alert on the site itself, when you are signed in.
• Define your notifications: you may limit notifications to specific countries, dates, and/or periods. You can always see – and modify – your rules by clicking on the “My Saved Rules” tab.
• You may choose to be notified about everything new and updated on the PACP. Please note that if you choose this option, and you also choose to be notified instantly via email, you may at times receive a significant number of notification messages.

Finally, note that you can stop notifications instantly whenever you like by clicking the STOP ALL NOTIFICATIONS button on the settings page.

Copyright

The PACP is designed to allow users to submit data that has been published by others. When submitting such information, the contributor's name(s) - meaning the scholar(s) who studied, analyzed, and/or published the data - must also be included as well as a publication reference, when possible. Every item on the PACP can be linked to a contributor and, when appropriate, a publication; the contributor name(s) and reference then become a permanent part of the item’s record. In this way, copyright and intellectual property are respected.