17th November 2010, 10:49 PM
Article on this theme also in Rescue News 111. See sneak preview here - http://www.rescue-archaeology.org.uk/bet...lems-loom/
This is not a straightforward issue. A big problem, i feel, concerning archaeological archives from dc work being used in academic research is visibility. Certainly, where there are archives which are visible and geared up to welcoming students etc e.g. LAARC. However, the deposition policies of each local authority vary so much that it is often near impossible to work out where the site archive for work in a particular county (or indeed district council/LPA area) will be. As I said there will be no easy solution but this is an issue which has already gone beyond crisis point in many areas. I'm sure everyone could name counties where no museums are accepting archives, and burden of curating an archive that should be available for study falls with the unit. The situation is only set to get much worse with job freezes/cuts in local authorities with museums left open and vulnerably to massive staff cuts (including curators with an arch specialism).
The big problem, with FAME's position is what constitutes 'public benefit'. Who determines this? And what does 'public benefit' mean in terms of archaeological archives anyway?
This is not a straightforward issue. A big problem, i feel, concerning archaeological archives from dc work being used in academic research is visibility. Certainly, where there are archives which are visible and geared up to welcoming students etc e.g. LAARC. However, the deposition policies of each local authority vary so much that it is often near impossible to work out where the site archive for work in a particular county (or indeed district council/LPA area) will be. As I said there will be no easy solution but this is an issue which has already gone beyond crisis point in many areas. I'm sure everyone could name counties where no museums are accepting archives, and burden of curating an archive that should be available for study falls with the unit. The situation is only set to get much worse with job freezes/cuts in local authorities with museums left open and vulnerably to massive staff cuts (including curators with an arch specialism).
The big problem, with FAME's position is what constitutes 'public benefit'. Who determines this? And what does 'public benefit' mean in terms of archaeological archives anyway?