Archaeology and the New Media
Well, against my strict sabbatical policy to only finish tasks, I’m taking on a new project. Specifically, an edited volume on archaeology and new media. Bill is already thinking about this, and now I’m trying to collect my thoughts on it and begin a prospectus. We would value any thoughts and ideas form people, so please don’t hesitate to comment and send up emails. We are just working on this as we can around other items, so this is a 2-3 year process.
I think the format is easy for me to envision: a book that is also electronic and a corresponding web app that allows folks to access annotations, any addendum, and perhaps even formulate a sense of community via discussion boards if anyone wants to talk about it. I’d imagine there could be quite a bit of discussion on some of these topics. So, in looking at Bill’s ideas, I see it as both traditional and dynamic - and I think that’s exactly what our audience requires. I don’t think this approach will be overly problematic - O’Reilly is already releasing electronic review copies of texts I use in my classes with active links to the web. I find these very useful and carry them around on my tablet. What we’re talking about doing here is essentially similar with the addition of some web technologies which are the stuff of my development activities anyway…
But I’m still struggling a bit with the organization of the work. I can see the best practices section being a collection of case studies - that’s our last section. But how do we address the topics of concern here? Bill suggests definitions and sampling strategy, both of which make good sense. I’d probably want to add in components for interpretation and education; although they might just as well fit into a definitions section. But then I get caught up in a circular argument which underscores the conundrum I face when thinking this through: do we organize these discussions around what we are specifically doing with new media and technology, or do we focus on the archaeological research process and how the new media relates to that? I like the idea of organizing around the research process, but so many of the tool we use are becoming pervasive throughout the entire process. And it’s informing the work we do - while we are doing it - as well as the interpretations we make after the fact. So it’s not so easy to break the new media or technology away from any isolated activity since it’s often invading multiple elements of our work…
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