| Sumario: | In the preceding article in this Forum, Sarah Whitcher Kansa, Eric C. Kansa, and Jason M. Schultz have announced that "a recently released data-sharing web application, called Open Context (www.opencontext.org), enables researchers to publish structured data along with textual narratives and media (images, maps, drawings, videos) on the web." The authors explain that Open Context is designed to facilitate open-access publishing of archeological data by capitalizing on advantages of "'born digital' documentation," now commonly used by excavators to record vast amounts of data. Their article ends with an appeal for help to achieve their "primary goal…to build the 'critical mass' of users, contributors, and content needed to sustain Open Context as a valued scholarly resource." Apparently for this reason, their description of Open Context is neither critical nor objective but, instead, aimed at persuading excavators to use Open Context to publish field data. The authors could have presented a more useful portrait of Open Context had they not focused exclusively on its perceived benefits but, instead, candidly addressed both the potential advantages and disadvantages that it poses for data providers and users.
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