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11th December 2007, 02:21 PM
This is all very interesting. I don't think that I have ever worked in an organisation where the author was credited on the cover of site reports. However, we did always acknowledge the whole team including the author (field, office and specialists) in the back.
D. Vader
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Vader Maull & Palpatine
Archaeological Consultants
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11th December 2007, 04:24 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by Sith
This is all very interesting. I don't think that I have ever worked in an organisation where the author was credited on the cover of site reports.
I've never worked in an organisation where the author wasn't credited on the cover (or fly sheet) [:p]
For site reports (not EIAs) I favour crediting a principal author/editor - credit where credit's due. If you've written it you should be named.
Just read a DBA by a well known archaeological consultancy firm where the report was anonymous. It was very inadequate, full of plagiarism and sometimes clearly erroneous. How do I know how to avoid the individual with a bargepole if they apply for a job with my unit? [:0]
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11th December 2007, 06:00 PM
Just a quick grumble... you know illustrators are archaeologists too. We work hard to make reports look good, even fixing things when there have been mistakes made in the field (hey it happens to the best of us - nobody's perfect ;o) and it would be nice to be appreciated for our work.
I get credited as well as the report writer, field staff and specialists on our fly sheet. The report may have been synthesised and the text written by the lead writer but it's a team effort - isn't it?
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12th December 2007, 01:18 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by ecmgardner
Just a quick grumble... you know illustrators are archaeologists too. ..... The report may have been synthesised and the text written by the lead writer but it's a team effort - isn't it?
Sure, as are others of differing flavours - enviro bods, surveyors, finds specialists etc. Credit should be given in the acknowledgements to all involved. For grey lit site reports I usually start my acknowledgements with 'The report was compiled from information recorded on site by ...'. I then name check others who may have provided help but not actually written a report section. Specialists who provide written sections have their name against their own written section.
As a principal author and sometimes finds specialist I see both sides. For publications I tend to favour crediting all where they have provided written sections. However, there is increasing pressure to provide synthetic pieces and specialists can lose accreditation. It can be a bit galling to see your specialist section (or chunks of it) under the name of a principal author, even if you are mentioned as a contributor e.g. Joe Bloggs with contributions by ....
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12th December 2007, 09:57 PM
Same here. Author on front, individual specialists credited at their section and general acknowledgement list for everything like production of digital plans, inked sections, all site diggers etc is what my unit does as standard. Particularly when you're getting started in the profession, seeming your name in print is something to be proud of or encouraging.
The idea of losing individual authorship to a corporate image simply strikes me as unfair. As a comparison look at TV or film where everybody gets a credit (try telling Welles, Hitchcock or Cruise etc that their name wont appear anywhere as the film was a joint effort by the studio employees). At organisations like the BBC, which surely has a strict corporate image/standard to maintain and could just state all programs as BBC staff produced, the staff get their individual credits. Even the local bleeding weathergirls announce who they are before telling you to get the sandbags out.
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14th December 2007, 01:15 PM
The company I work for credits the main author on the front cover of reports; main author and reviewer(s) on the first page; specialist reprorts are also individually credited and the acknowledgement section credits the work of everyone involved. Mind you we are currently still a small unit. I can only imagine the difficulty in crediting all the site staff on a large excavation going on for months with diggers coming and going.
"a pound of shelled peanuts was handsome pay by any apes standards" Pratchett 1998
