Updating and Version Control:

Content update and version control are important issues in the development of the Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Experience with the Lexikon der Ägyptologie has shown that within 20 years new discoveries and developments in the discipline have changed the field to such an extent that not only the bibliography and the information within the entries, but often also the nature and type of the entries need updating. Each entry has the status of a peer-reviewed scholarly article, and the articles from the encyclopedia are expected to be quoted widely in both Web-based and printed articles and books. When an article is updated, the version number will indicate that this has been done, while the old version will continue to be accessible through the archive section of the website, giving the added benefit that over time UEE will record the history and the scholarly development of the profession.

Regular updates of the encyclopedia entries will be initiated by the Academic Editorial Committee, and can also be initiated by the author. For each entry the system will send out an automatic alert five years after it is 'published'. At that juncture the editors will check whether the entry needs updating. Depending on how much the entry has changed, the Academic Editorial Committee will decide to publish the entry under both author names, or solely under the name of the new author. Additions of new and retirement of redundant entries will be decided on by the Academic Editorial Committee. They will base their decisions on developments in the field. The editors will also take into account suggestions by the users, through the interactive part of the UEE. The UEE has an interactive screen through which users can communicate their suggestions for new entries, different approaches, user-friendliness of the search environment, etc. to the editors.

Financial Sustainability:

The UEE is supported by two grants of the National Endowment of the Humanities. From 2006 to 2008 an amount of $ 325,000 was granted for the first phase of the project. In spring 2008 the project received an additional $ 350,000 for the second phase (2008-2010, grant number PW-50095-08). In addition, NEH also funds a project directed by Diane Favro (Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at UCLA) and Willeke Wendrich, to develop undergraduate educational materials linked to a virtual reality project of the Karnak Temple Complex. This project, for which an amount of $ 180,000 was granted, will be finalized in 2008. In addition the project obtained a multi-year grant from the Center of Digital Humanities at UCLA and grants from the Office of Instructional Development of UCLA. The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures has made several Graduate Student Research assistantship available. The UEE will need to adopt a cost model which can cover the necessary expenses to procure new content, including (but not limited to) associated editorial and technical costs. However, this cost recovery methodology should in no way impede or prevent the dissemination of the core information gathered and stored within the UEE as this would directly contradict both the mission of the UEE as well as the spirit of several underlying technological components. The UEE will work during the second implementation phase to research, develop, and adopt a financial sustainability plan that will allow two levels of access: free public access to core UEE materials and functionality, and an 'enhanced' access to members who support the UEE financially.

Repository :

A third aspect of sustainability is safe storage and regular update of the hardware and software through which the articles and other items are stored and made accessible. This is a concern of all Web-based publications and one of the important reasons for the development of the California Digital Library (CDL), an initiative to maintain information in perpetuity. By cooperating with the CDL the UEE will be safeguarded from 'digital obsolescence'.