Welcome!
Websites as Publication Media for Archaeological Projects
The growing difficulties of publishing archaeological materials on paper -- rising costs, the impossibility of using color photographs or drawings, the need to include large data sets, the difficulties of getting multiple-author volumes together, and the time required to move through the steps of paper publication -- have conspired to make publication on paper more and more problematic. The web as an alternative has been used successfully by some, but few projects have taken advantage of the web to build their own sites and to publish, rigorously and fully, what has been found so that others may see the data as well as the analyses. Although the web seems the obvious answer to the publication problems, there are many impediments, not the least of which is the need for peer review. In this paper the authors will discuss a variety of issues that must be considered by any project director hoping to publish via a website:
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Timing issues for putting material on the web -- Should incomplete data and/or analyses be put on the web, or should only final results be made available?
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Should there be discussion lists for project participants to communicate in the off-season?
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How can peer review be accomplished, absent a publisher as intermediary?
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How should data sets be handled? Should access be to complete files or to individual data items? What file formats are acceptable? How are these data files archived -- and by whom?
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For data sets who will prepare the metadata, and how will it be presented?
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How should images be dealt with? Should every photo taken on a project be included? Should file formats be restricted? How are the photos catalogued?
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What parts of the web site (as opposed to the data sets) should be archived and by whom?
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What are the personnel issues that will arise over these esoteric matters?
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Should the website target the general public, specialists, or both?
Other questions will be considered, and the authors will welcome questions and contributions from the audience.
-- Andrea Vianello & Harrison Eiteljorg, II
The authors have presented their ideas at the EAA annual meeting in Oslo on Friday, September 16, and started the discussion. We thank those who attended and especially those of you that contributed to the debate. The discussion is continuing in the forum. Please feel free to introduce yourself in the forum.