There is a growing need to provide access to the body of archaeological 'grey literature' and to make it available to researchers. The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is working closely with English Heritage National Monuments Record (EH-NMR), and the Archaeological Investigations Project (AIP) to provide this access through web design solutions.
The Online Access to the Index of Archaeological Investigations (OASIS) project aims to use IT to ease the flow of information from those undertaking fieldwork to the archaeological community. We believe the technology which has been developed by the ADS could be reused in solving other problems of information flow in the heritage sector. OASIS aims to capture data, hold it in a database, and then to allow different parties to access it. A web-based Data Submission Form has been created, which is being used to inform the relevant monument records of the completion of specific field or post-excavation tasks, such as the deposition of 'grey literature' reports or archives. Once the on-line form has been completed by the contractor, the record is validated by local and national bodies, also on-line. The diversity of local practices will mean that the information flow may vary according to region and the web-based form and database holdings module is flexible enough to accommodate the various roles required by the different organizations involved.
Key words: Web-based, Database, Grey-literature, Heritage, Management