INSTRUCTIONS

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

In order to submit information to the LCP, you must be registered 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 are able to submit information to the site.

When you register, 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 LCP 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 is arranged by category: wares, petro-fabrics, vessels, petrographic information, etc.

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

 

Contributors and Users

All information on the LCP is linked to two distinct categories of individuals: contributors and users.

• Contributors are authors and/or original producers of data. They own the data's intellectual property. All information on the LCP is linked to at least one contributor. Contributors receive credit for information; their names appear as authors in the item's citation.
• Users are people who submit data. Users may submit their own data, in which case they are both a user and a contributor; or they may submit data on behalf of someone else.

Two examples:

• A scholar wants to submit vessels from her/his own excavation. S/he registers on the LCP as a user and a contributor. In the final step of submitting a vessel, s/he types her/his own name in the box for Contributor. The LCP entry names the scholar as both Contributor (i.e., author) and as the person who submitted the information.
• A student wants to submit a vessel on behalf of someone else (this person could even be deceased). The student registers on the LCP as a user and submits the vessel. In the final step, s/he types the name of the Contributor  in the appropriate box. The LCP entry lists the correct Contributor; the student's name appears as the person who submitted the information.

 

Submitting Information on your own behalf, and on behalf of someone else

If you are submitting information on your own behalf:

• register on the LCP as a user;
• make sure to check the box that says "Make Me A Contributor."
• open the LCP, sign in, and go to the Submit page (https://www.levantineceramics.org/forms/v2).

If someone has already registered you on the LCP 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 LCP editor (aberlin@bu.edu) to have your contributor profile connected to your user account.

If you are submitting information on behalf of someone else:

• open the LCP and sign yourself in. 
• check that the person on whose behalf you are submitting data is an LCP Contributor. For a list of all current LCP contributors go here: https://www.levantineceramics.org/contributors.
• If you do not find their name (for example because the person is deceased, or because you are working on her/his behalf), submit their name as a new contributor. Go to the Submit page and select "Add A Contributor": 
   https://www.levantineceramics.org/contributors/new. 
• When registering a new contributor, enter a first and last name; remaining information is optional.

Note: if someone is a contributor on the LCP but not a registered user, s/he cannot submit data. Only registered users can submit data.

 

Submitting Data to the LCP

To submit data, select Submit from the navigation bar. You may submit wares, petro-fabrics, individual vessels and illustrations, petrographic data, kiln site information, bibliographic references, and new contributors. 

LCP 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 with distinctive shared characteristics: 1) a single petro-fabric, meaning the same clay source; 2) the same manufacturing processes, including preparation, forming, and firing; 3) the same 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. Over the course of a ware’s production, potters may introduce new shapes and stop producing others. Click here for a video about the difference between wares and petro-fabrics. 

• Petro-fabric (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 soils. The identification of a vessel’s petro-fabric may indicate the original soil type but not the date of the vessel, because the same clay source may have been used over centuries or even millennia. Click here for a video about the difference between wares and petro-fabrics. 

• 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 LCP 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, petro-fabric, and/or kiln/workshop, selected from a drop-down menu. The LCP will automatically link your vessel, and it will show up as an example on that ware, 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 LCP. Subsequent steps in the vessel submission ask for other information such as date, place and type of find-spot, manufacturing technique, illustrations, and bibliographic references.

• Illustrations: To add illustrations to an existing vessel, 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. Click here for a video tutorial about submitting vessel illustrations.

• Petrographic information is mineralogical data connected to a specific vessel, whether seen in a thin-section or a magnified break. In Step 1 you will enter the vessel’s unique number and specific sample number. In subsequent steps you may enter a descriptive data along with photographs of thin-sections and/or breaks.

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 LCP 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 (for a video tutorial about submitting bibliographic references, click here).

On the submit page, you may select “Add bibliographic information.” This will take you to a form for adding a publication. You may want to consult the site’s Master Bibliography before submitting a reference; you can find this under the "Browse/Edit" tab on the navigation bar.

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

To edit an entry, select the pencil icon in the browse list or 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 LCP editor (aberlin@bu.edu).

 

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 your contributor profile, and clicking on notifications settings. There you can indicate how you would like to receive notifications, how often you receive them, and what you receive notifications for.

On the settings page you can control your 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 LCP. 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 LCP is designed to allow users to submit data that has been published by others. When submitting such information, contributor's name(s) - meaning the scholar(s) who studied, analyzed, and/or published the data - should also be included as well as a publication reference, when possible. Every item on the LCP 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.

 

Search/Browse/View Information

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

Search allows you to find any type of information already in the LCP. Choose search from the navigation bar, and enter a country, region, date, period, site name, site type, shape, function, etc. On the results page, use the tabs to see specific vessels, wares/ware families, petro-fabrics, etc. On the left side of the page, filter boxes allow you to further refine your results.

Browse allows you to view abbreviated lists of specific categories of information: wares/ware families, petro-fabrics, petrographic images and descriptions, vessels, kiln sites, and the LCP master bibliography. On any browse page, you can refine your results by sorting on the columns or using the search bar at the upper right. To see more information, click through to an item’s full display page.

The utility of search and browse depends on the amount and details of submitted information. As more data is added to the LCP, these tools will become more powerful.

On the view pages, you can find definitions, descriptions, dates, illustrations, and other related data for wares/ware families, petro-fabrics, vessels, petrographic samples, and kiln 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.

 

Bulk Upload of images

For image bulk upload, each line of the spreadsheet should specify a specific individual filename for each image, or a URL that the LCP can access and download the image from. Make sure that each image file is labelled precisely as the name on the excel sheet; do not specify a pathway (e.g., C:\ filepaths). Put all images within a single folder without subfolders; do not embed images within individual folders. Compress the folder of image files into a single zip file for uploading. 

Comparisons (for a video tutorial about the comparisons feature, click here).

While you are using the Levantine Ceramics Project, you may generate side by side comparisons of different wares, vessels, etc. You can access this feature in one of two ways. The first is through the search feature. Anything that comes up as a search result will automatically have a button that reads "Add to comparison". You can also utilize this feature on the browse page by choosing the "+" option in the rightmost column. To view your comparisons, you can consult the drop down menu in the upper right hand corner of the screen. The entries you have chosen will appear in their respective categories, and you can filter the information you would like to compare.