Archaeology on the World Wide Web: a user's field-guide

• Published in: Antiquity 1997-12, Vol.71 (274), p.1027-1038
• Main Author: Champion, Sara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Archaeological research; Archaeology; Exact sciences and technology; Excavation and methods; Information science. Documentation; Information services; Information services industry; Internet; Interpretation, statistical and computer analysis; Laboratory methods; Libraries; Methodology and general studies; Other aspects of specialized information. Miscellaneous; Prehistory and protohistory; Research methods; Sciences and techniques of general use; Special review section: Electronic archaeology; Specialized information sources (paper or electronic format); World Wide Web
• ISSN: 0003-598X; 1745-1744
• DOI: 10.1017/S0003598X00085951

Using the World Wide Web is not unlike visiting an unfamiliar place to look at the archaeology. You want to know if there is anything interesting to see, so you start in the library, looking for information; you read books and articles from journals; perhaps you contact colleagues who can tell you about the place; you want to know how to find the sites and to get to them; and once you are there, you want to visit the museums as well as the monuments, and to locate people who are working there, whether they are from academic institutions, government archaeological bodies or local societies. You will want to check that access arrangements have not changed since the last published information; you also want to ensure that as far as possible the information you have is accurate, so that you do not waste time looking at sites which are not relevant to your interests.