Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities conference 2026

TII Archaeologist Michael Stanley presented a paper at the Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DPASSH) conference in Belfast on Thursday 25 June. The conference theme was ‘Ready, set, preserve! Making space for play in digital preservation’ and Michael’s presentation was entitled ‘The TII Digital Heritage Collections: playing with the data’.

The Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) has run DPASSH since 2015 and it has become a stalwart in the Irish digital preservation calendar, bringing together Irish and international researchers and practitioners from across the arts, social sciences and humanities, but this was the first time TII has contributed to a DPASSH conference.

Since 2017, TII has been digitally preserving and disseminating archaeological excavation reports and other heritage data from its projects via the TII Digital Heritage Collections, which is hosted by the DRI. In June 2025, TII launched the TII Digital Heritage Collections Portal, which enhances access to the Collections via a web map interface designed to appeal to the general public and heritage professionals alike.

In tandem with the ongoing development of the Collections and the new Portal, TII has commissioned numerous StoryMaps that creatively combine mapping technology, narrative text and multimedia content to tell compelling stories. One of the latest StoryMaps specifically explores the operation of the TII Digital Heritage Collections through the archaeology of the M7 Portlaoise–Castletown/M8 Portlaoise–Cullahill Motorway Scheme in County Laois, which was opened in 2010.

Michael’s paper shone a spotlight on how broad access to the TII Digital Heritage Collections, and the underlying metadata, has been achieved, with the objective of drawing more users to the resource and fostering new research that transforms our understanding of Ireland’s archaeological heritage.

The Collections include 3D laser scan files and, in keeping with the conference theme of playful engagement with digital preservation, Michael invited delegates to handle 3D-printed replicas of important Bronze Age pottery discovered on the N8/N73 Mitchelstown Relief Road in 2004. Users of the Collections can download these 3D files and 3D-print their own copies, if they wish.

Click here to find out more about DPASSH and view the conference programme here.