Archaeologists around Iowa have concerns that a service previously offered by the state is now being privatized.

Archaeologists were notified in May that remote access to the state's database of archaeological sites across Iowa, a database built with the help of public input, would no longer be provided by an online portal through the state office. Archaeologists, government agencies and consultants pay a subscription fee to remotely access the database to estimate the risk of disturbing historical resources.

As of July, the portal is being run by a startup company co-founded by the state archaeologist.

ECR Logic -- a company founded by Office of State Archaeology Director John Doershuk, research technology director Mary De La Garza and strategic initiatives director Elizabeth Reetz -- was contracted by the University of Iowa to provide a portal for accessing sites starting in July.

But the roll-out did not go smoothly. Following confusion and concerns from archaeologists across the state, OSA leaders opted to keep the old portal, called I-Sites Pro, online along site their company's product, ECR Field Pro, until August.

The new business has been heralded as a creative solution and promoted by the University of Iowa, which houses the state office, or OSA. The start-up was founded with the help of business incubators at the university. Doershuk said the company's business model is not to make money based on its contract with the University of Iowa.

But some in the archaeology community around the state remain concerned about the changes.

Issues they have range from confusion over what the technical changes will mean for their businesses to unease at the idea of a private company managing critical crowd-sourced information to allegations of conflict of interest.

“Archaeologists in Iowa have contributed vast amounts of knowledge over the years, so it should be part of the public trust,” said Randy Dickson, a Wisconsin-based archaeologist who does work in more than 20 states. “We should ask the question, are we willing to have our history treated as a commodity?”

Dozens of consulting archaeologists across the state did not want to go on record Monday. Some said they didn't want to jeopardize future bids for projects. Many said they simply did not understand enough about the transition, even after attending an informational meeting with OSA staff in Ames last week.

An anonymous letter sent to the Press-Citizen alleges that officials worked on ECR Logic during taxpayer-paid work hours, enlisting the help of state staff to work on a private company that would ultimately benefit a private company. Doershuk said this allegation is unfounded. He said OSA staff at times worked on ECR Logic during standard business hours, but were careful to keep their jobs separate and diligent about working their required 40 hours per week at OSA.

He said his company was obligated to develop a Conflict of Interest management plan. The University of Iowa declined to provide the Press-Citizen this document, stating that the records are considered personnel-related and therefore not public documents.

Terms of the contract

ECR Logic's management of the database is spelled out in a memorandum of understanding. Termination of the contract is at the discretion of the UI's Office of the Vice President for Research, which oversees the OSA.

The subscription cost will increase each year.

This year, Iowa archaeologists will pay $2,750 for a 10-person access to the portal, a $250 increase from last year's subscription cost. Doershuk said this increase had been planned before the change to compensate for increased costs associated with running the access portal.

By the terms of the agreement, ECR Logic will pay the UI $20,000 annually to subsidize the position of OSA site records manager. Each year the subscription fee will increase by no more than 4% or no more than the site records manager's pay increase, whichever is lower.

The subscription rate is higher than what neighboring states charge for access to their state archaeological databases. Many states, including Illinois, Missouri and Minnesota provide access to the databases for free. Doershuk attributes this rate to the level of state subsidy.

Doershuk said the access portal was never a money-maker for the university; OSA was only able to charge for the cost of running the system, not for improvements. He said the business model of ECR Logic hinges on expanding and selling services to national environmental consulting companies.

"ECR Logic does not expect to make money on Iowa archaeology," he said. "We're simply taking care of our roots."

A close-knit field

By the University of Iowa's reckoning, roughly 25 groups purchase access to the database annually.

The archaeology community in Iowa is close-knit, said Colin Betts, a professor in the anthropology at Luther College. Betts said he won't see a fee increase to use the service as member of an academic institution. But he's been following the discussion, both as an adviser to the OSA and a professional with friends and colleagues in the industry.

He says part of the concerns voiced by archaeologists relate to their businesses' financial well being. But he adds that archaeologists see their job as preserving the historical integrity and are bound to be concerned about how records are managed.

There may be the potential for conflict-of-interest problems in the future, but he doesn’t get the sense that this is what is happening now. The intention of ECR Field Pro, he thinks, is honorable.

"We’re lucky; we really are," he said. "There are a lot of [states that] don’t have this resource.”

Des Moines Register reporter Ian Richardson contributed to this article.