I am interested in discussing how archaeologists are using web technology as a means for engaging and working with the public. My particular interest is how we use the web as a tool for community engagement. This can range from the use of social media, project-specific websites and blogs, the creation of online exhibits, or something I haven’t thought of yet. I’m coming to this both as a person who runs social media programs for archaeology, as well as a person who is in the process of building a digital exhibit, and trying to incorporate the community in the process. It’s on my mind. Some topics to think about:
– Community engagement: are we using the web as a one-way or two-way medium? Are we engaging communities actively in the creation of an online community, or providing a one-way static representation of our research? how is the public incorporated into the project through the web? Are we able to build meaningful relationships with these tools that result in greater awareness, education, and better stewardship?
– Access: One of the major obstacles for using the web is a question of access. What steps are we taking to ensure that our web content is accessible to the public? How do we ensure that we’re reaching the “correct” public? How do we define what public we’re trying to reach, and is that public online to begin with? How do we know the web is even the right tool for the job?
– The Real vs. The Digital: Most people would argue that the web cannot replace person-to-person interaction. Is this true? Is it even the right debate? What type of engagement are you doing through the web that couldn’t be done “in-person”? Does the digital space allow for engagement with groups that would have been otherwise unreachable? Can you use the digital space as a means for facilitating in-person engagement? Is digital engagement a compliment, a replacement, or a completely separate type of engagement from in-person engagement? What type of approaches can we learn from in-person public archaeology that we can apply to digital engagement, and vice-versa?
– How-To: The final component is discussing the how-to of digital engagement. What types of steps should people take when building a social media or digital engagement plan? What pitfalls should they look out for? How do they determine which tech to use, how to use it, and so on? What resources do they need to allocate? How do you determine if your project was a success or a failure?
Anyway, I’m interested in discussing this further below, or shoot me a message on the twitters @brockter.
7 comments
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Ethan Gruber
July 25, 2012 at 5:14 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
The Portable Antiquties Scheme is one of the best examples of public archaeology out there. I suppose it is still controversial in some quarters, but the results cannot be denied–data for 800,000 objects that would otherwise never have been collected.
Mandy Ranslow
July 26, 2012 at 1:59 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I am very interested in this topic myself for a number of reasons. As the Connecticut Archaeology Awareness Month Coordinator I am looking for as many ways possible to reach the public with announcements of events and information about the importance of preservation. My latest experiment is asking (begging) historic house museums across the state to exhibit artifacts that have been excavated on their grounds. While I think many would be interested in doing this, the hours in which their open are rather limited, especially outside the summer months. I am thinking an online exhibit would be an avenue worth exploring for them. The Ellington (CT) Historical Society, who I am most closely tied to at this moment has already made strides to put part of their collection online (www.ellingtonhistsoc.org/), which seems rather progressive in my experience. I would like to find out more about creating an online exhibit focusing on a recent kids’ excavation conducted on the property.
bkmeans
July 28, 2012 at 1:18 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
This topic meshes well with the work that I am doing, especially the real versus digital, and I think my tentative session proposal could be integrated into yours. Certainly traveling around and scanning artifacts at historic heritage venues and archaeological sites in Virginia and Pennsylvania shows that this is a topic of great interest. My students who work with me are certainly comfortable working in the digital as well as “real” realms.
Tim Goddard
July 30, 2012 at 8:39 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Terry,
As we talked a bit in Baltimore about this but I feel the WebGIS has a role to play in this. I feel the spatial visual element of a WebGIS can appeal to the public greater than a Musuem type online exhibit alone. By linking the visual stimulus of maps and/or 3d and then move into virtual realty based on real archaeological data that then allows people to link and comment or draw and add their own ideas is still in its infancy and needs some more feedback from the pubic as to refine this technology. The virtual reali opens a big bag of worms so I will mainly focus in the WebGIS for now. The social media combined with WebGIS needs to be explored more to get the most out of the data and the potential wide variety of users. The more ways we can give the user access to data the better the experience and positive feedback we can get. Not everyone will get the same from a single type of web presence but if we use a “mash up” of web tools done in a specific way I think we can attract a wider audience which will help build the uses and needs of web based tools.
Sorry I just found out today that I won’t be able to attend on the 10th so I’m going to miss out in some good discussion.
bkmeans
July 30, 2012 at 10:54 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
The WebGIS angle interests me and it’s a shame I won’t be able to talk with you the 10th. I’m toying with integrating my digital models with a GIS and as away of highlighting objects at different historic sites.
Tim Goddard
July 31, 2012 at 2:06 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Well contact me another time and we can talk more about WebGIS if you would like.
Tim
bkmeans
July 31, 2012 at 2:04 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Tim, thanks, will do, probably sometime early in the fall semester.
Cheers,
Bernard