My SAA 2011 wrap-up

The annual Society for American Archaeology meetings took place this year in Sacramento, California. Colleen Morgan asked me to be a presenter on her symposium “Blogging Archaeology“, and I happily accepted. I had not presented at a conference since my senior year of undergrad (the 1993 National Conference on Undergraduate Research), so I was nervous and excited. I had attended one previous SAA meeting, in Austin, but my time there was spent mainly networking (aka drinking beer with friends and colleagues) and seeing papers by friends and co-workers.

Actually, my experience this year outside of my own symposium wasn’t all that different, in that I only saw a few papers and posters and spent a lot of time catching up with friends and meeting new people. Speaking of, I did a horrible job handing out and collecting business cards, and Saturday night I was well into my cups, so I would be happy if all those wonderful people I met and talked to would drop me a line at (idigholes at gmail dot com) or my work address on my card!!

The few papers I did see were mostly about public archaeology, since that’s where my interests are skewing. But first, I saw a couple of papers on Maya Water and Land Management, which brought about thesis flashbacks. It was nice to see one of my graduate school colleagues continuing with her research in her new role as a university professor (hell, it’s just nice to see that one of my grad school colleagues was actually able to get a full-time academic job!).

The first two public archaeology papers were part of the general session titled “Archaeological Education and Public Outreach in the Americas”. The first paper, by Rebecca Schwendler, was “Using Backyard Archaeology to Foster Cultural Resource Presevation”. This was about her excavation of a historic privy in her backyard in Lafayette, Colorado, and the outreach she conducted as a part of this personal project. Interestingly, although she wrote a series of blog posts about replacing her windows on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s webpage, there was no mention of blogging or any sort of internet-related outreach as part of the backyard project.

This was to be a theme for the public outreach papers I saw. Kristin Swanton’s “Public Archaeology and Landowner Support at the Battle of Mystic Fort” was interesting in breaking down the most effective forms of landowner communication while attempting to conduct an academic/public archaeology project. This is partly because I always figured that landowner issues were restricted to the road and utility projects that CRM firms are involved with. Again, no mention of using social media or blogging as a part of the outreach.

I managed to drag myself out of bed Saturday morning (after an afternoon and night of carousing with a bunch of the Berkeley grad students, among others) with a goal of catching Randy McGuire’s presentation on “Working Class Archaeology” and then eating a giant pancake (aka The Hubcap) at Jim Denny’s.  McGuire’s paper was thought-provoking, for sure, particularly in the definition of class as not just pertaining to income level. His discussion of outreach involving the United Mine Workers during his work on the Ludlow Massacre site during the Colorado Coal Field wars was very cool, and also contained some real food for thought. Again, however, no mention of the Internet whatsoever, even though there is a webpage for the project (another “virtual museum”) and a paper/presentation posted online as well. I also saw Jay Stottman’s “A Slow and Moving Target: The Reality of a Practice of an Activist Archaeology” but honestly I was still waking up and don’t remember much of it. I wish I had been able to see this full session…and have no one to blame but myself.

As for the Blogging Archaeology panel, other people, including Colleen Morgan, Michael Smith, and Kris Hirst (our amazing discussant) have done a better job of summarizing than I could, so I will happily link to them and defer. I did also have my very brief wrap-up here, with a link to my paper. I also encourage you to check out Shawn Graham’s paper here (which you can read or watch). I will say that I was inspired by the different perspectives, the post-session comments and the later beer discussions, the live-blogging via Twitter, and all the nice personal backpats I got from people. I was very pleased that people laughed at my laugh-lines, and I feel like I held my own with an impressive array of presenters. Also, having seen what the Campus Archaeology Program at Michigan State University and the Florida Public Archaeology Program (particularly the Northeast and Southeast regions) are doing, I’m more determined than ever to drag CRM (and hopefully, my firm) into the 21st century.

Post-SAA comedown

Let me explain…

First, it turns out that I’m allergic to northern California, or at least the Central Valley. I originally thought that my total lack of energy last Sunday afternoon was an epic hangover combined with lack of sleep. That was part of it, but part of the lack of sleep can be attributed to the fact that my head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton balls with the density of lead.

Then, because of all the Southwest plane leaks, my flight back to Austin ended up getting delayed before they switched me to a different flight. I was glad to get back, but the trip included an extra takeoff and landing (never good on my ears in the best of circumstances) and got me home at 1:00 am. And slept poorly.

I had emailed work to tell them I would be in late, because of the late flight. When I finally got there, I sat at my computer for an hour being completely useless, before throwing in the towel. Didn’t sleep very well again, which is unfortunate because…

I had to be at work the next morning at 7:00 am to do backhoe trenching survey in San Antonio. This ended up being an 11-hour work day, most of which I was dragging my still-allergy-addled ass through (although I did tweet a bit about it). I got home, ate, took a nap, woke up to watch TV for a while with my girlfriend, and passed back out.

Thursday and today, I was finally able to deal with writing at the office. My head has cleared to the point where my main problems are clearing the crap out of my lungs and feeling like I have swimmer’s ear. I’ve been doing most of my archaeo blogging via Twitter, because I can do it at my desk, it’s short-form, and I can be really lazy and retweet stuff from other people without comment 🙂

SO…I say all this as an explanation and an apology. I still haven’t written a full SAA wrap-up, and there’s  nonsense going on in the world of mainstream media “archaeology” that I’ve been ruminating over. Fortunately, it’s the weekend and all I have to do is some yardwork, so I should FINALLY get a chance to catch up.

SAAs, short version

I’m super-tired and hungover, in the totally worth it way that reminds you that you had a really great time over the last few days. As such, thinking and focusing are a struggle, but I did want to write a short blog post, and make a .pdf of my paper available:

Blogging as a US CRM professional – John D

There was some live blogging of our session via Twitter. You can see the tweets by searching for #blogarch or just clicking here.

It was a really valuable session, I think, and a great experience. Thanks to all who presented, attending, commented, or followed online!

Almost there!

I’m sitting in Colleen’s apartment in Oakland, CA, drinking some coffee and getting ready for the drive to Sacramento for the Society for American Archaeology 2011 meetings. Our panel is tomorrow afternoon, but I’m looking forward to checking out some other talks and posters, hitting the trade room to load up on some schwag, and seeing old friends!

I finished my paper Wednesday night around 10:30 and emailed it off to the panel moderator. As usual, waiting until the last minute. I wrote pretty much all of my thesis the month before the absolute last due date, finishing about 2 days before the deadline!

I started working on my Powerpoint presentation Thursday morning, but didn’t finish it because I got distracted by other things. I figured I had a 4-hour flight to Oakland, plus two hours in the Austin airport before hand. I did a bit in the airport, but it was really crowded which made it hard to work. Unfortunately, I found out on the plane that my laptop battery is dead…

Good thing this is a relatively informal panel!

Blogging Archaeology Week 4 – Beyond the net

The Blogging Archaeology panel at the SAA 2011 meetings is less than a week away, which means the last week of the pre-panel blog carnival. Colleen’s summary of the various week 3 responses, including a very complimentary summary of my own (thanks again!) can be found by clicking here. A lot of interesting answers, and thanks again to Colleen for all the hard work!

Week 4’s question is a tough one for me, which is partly why I’ve put off answering it for so long (and I’m not sure I’ll really be answering it now):

For our last question, I would like to ask you to consider the act of publication for this blog carnival. How could we best capture the interplay, the multimedia experience of blogging as a more formalized publication? What would be the best outcome for this collection of insights from archaeological bloggers?

This is certainly a challenge. A simple print publication, such as a series of themed articles in an issue of the SAA Archaeological Record, seems like the easiest and most obvious answer. The main limitation here is losing the interactivity and multimedia elements of the blog carnival, although a digital version could certainly have links to supporting web content. A lesser consideration is that this publication is only circulated to members of the Society for American Archaeology, leading to a self-selected audience. At the same time, I think that our blog carnival, while available to the entire public, is directed more towards our peers in the archaeology world as we try and expand the use of  blogging as a medium and tool in the archaeology kit.

As to the second part of the question, I think the best outcome for this blog carnival and panel session would be an increase in archaeological bloggers, or at least more viewing, commenting, and sharing on the existing blogs. My own experience in this blog carnival has made me realize that I had never really sought out other archaeology blogs, living in my own provincial world of the CRM experience, and more particularly the US/Texas area. I hope to keep up with more archaeology blogs in the future, including those of the other participants in this blog carnival, and be an active reader.

Ideally, I would like for CRM firms to see the opportunity that blogging allows for real-time (or near real-time) public outreach and interaction, and this is going to be one of the main points of my presentation. I know of a few academic excavations that have project blogs, and I like the MSU Campus Archaeology Program blog, where multiple people at different levels participate. I tried doing something like this for our excavation at Fort Hood in late 2009, with the idea of showing my bosses how easy a project blog could be (and how inexpensive, although I would certainly anticipate that the bloggers would at least be able to bill some time for their work).

I still think this is an uphill battle, as most of the folks in my office don’t seem to think of my participation in the SAAs for blogging as something particularly valuable (although I do appreciate their willingness to pay for my membership and registration fees!). They would prefer I present on work we did at some site at regional/state meetings, which is of course important, but somewhat perpetuates the view of CRM as small-scale and unable to be involved in big picture ideas.

With that, I need to work on my actual presentation for the panel!

Blogging Archaeology Week 2 – Consequences

As mentioned before, I’m participating in a blogging carnival in anticipation of the Blogging Archaeology panel at this year’s SAA annual meeting. My dear friend and colleague Colleen is organizing the panel and this blog carnival, partly to help slackers like me have much of their presentation prepared well ahead of time. My Week 1 response is here, and Colleen’s summary of the various replies (with links to each) is here. Here’s the Week 2 question:

In our last question, many emphasized the public access that blogging brings to archaeology, the option to “phone a friend,” as Kristin Sewell stated. Blogging gives new scholars a chance to speak out, to debunk 2012 foolishness and to give a little bit back to the public that usually signs our paychecks in one way or another. Though it is generally embraced (says she of the Berkeley bubble!), public outreach can be incredibly difficult, tricky, and prone to hidden downsides. Blogging archaeology is often fraught with tensions that are sometimes not immediately apparent. Beyond the general problems that come with performing as a public intellectual, what risks do archaeologists take when they make themselves available to the public via blogging? What (if any) are the unexpected consequences of blogging? How do you choose what to share?

In terms of things that I would define as actual “risks” that I could take while blogging, the clearest one is that I risk having the food taken out of my mouth. My blog is a personal blog, about my experiences as an archaeologist, and I hope I’ve made it clear that these are my opinions only. My experiences are under the auspices of my employer, but I do not represent them in any official capacity, nor are my blog posts intended to represent the views or opinions of my company (SWCA, if I haven’t said that before). At the same time (and one only has to look at recent events) I can say a million times that this is only my opinion, but if I piss off the wrong person, I could easily get fired. As such, I try to be vague about clients and project details. Honestly, a lot of the dead times between posts is because I don’t have anything nice to say and don’t want to possibly get in trouble. I also try not to bitch about my co-workers or superiors (which I honestly wouldn’t do 90% of the time anyway) and definitely don’t name names. I realized this was a potential issue when I started linking my blog to Facebook, where a number of co-workers were friends. I’ve since deleted almost all my co-workers for unrelated reasons, but I recognize that I can’t choose which public reads this.

Since the 2012 foolishness was mentioned, another consequence of archaeological blogging is encountering “fringe” opinions and unethical behavior. This, by the way, is not limited to blogging, but happens regularly anytime you deal with the public in the field (or in a bar). My readership is small and limited mainly to friends, friends of friends, and a few fellow archaeologists, so fortunately I don’t encounter this much here. But a look at some of the comments on the Ceibal project blog on the New York Times webpage  (click here for an example) will give a glimpse. Between the mainstream fringe garbage that litters the archaeology section of most bookstores, the dreck on the Discovery and “History” Channels, and misinformation from tour guides and museums…well, it clearly gets me agitated blogging about it. It’s hard to contour the misinformation, and the temptation to mock and scorn rather than respectfully answer the question is great. But by ignoring it (as the Times’ archaeologists have) gives it a sort of credence as well.

Something that happens more often for me, both in the field and in my use of the Internet for engaging the public, is dealing with collectors/relic hunters/looters. It’s against the law for me to disclose the location of an archaeological site in Texas, but when discussing nice sites on here and try to put as little locational information as possible. You never know when a collector/looter is reading or Googling. Likewise, I remove any sensitive geotags from Flickr. Flickr is where I have actually encountered a collector, who commented on some of my artifact photos in relation to his own collection. Of course, I could not encourage the collecting of artifacts, regardless of the legalities, but I also felt like I couldn’t just be out and out rude. Part of engaging in public archaeology is to view such things as educational opportunities, and a chance to create a steward. So in my posts, I try not to scorn those folks who come up to me and want to talk about and/or show off their collections. In fact, I try to engage those folks and landowners in general to tip me off to site locations (or tell me that sites aren’t there anymore), making my job easier!

Well, that was long…no wonder Colleen had to remind me that the presentation is only 5-10 minutes long 🙂

Blogging Archaeology Carnival, Week 1: What can my 2 cents do for archaeology

 

In anticipation of the Blogging Archaeology panel at the 2011 SAA meetings in Sacramento, the organizer (my best friend Colleen, also an amazing archaeology blogger and all around smartypants) has asked the participants (including myself) to participate in a blog carnival, wherein we answer a weekly question on our blogs. It might just be a way to goad slackers like myself into a weekly post, but I’m fortunate to be a part of this panel and up for the challenge.

This week’s question:

The emergence of the short form, or blog entry, is becoming a popular way to transmit a wide range of archaeological knowledge. What is the place of this conversation within academic, professional, and public discourse? Simply put, what can the short form do for archaeology?

I’m a little tempted to just link back to my abstract for the panel and leave it at that…but…I blog because my job as a CRM professional (aka non-academic archaeologist) is both interesting (usually) and misunderstood.

I interact broadly with the public, but under their radar, every time I do a job. My work exists because of federal, state, and local regulations, which reflect the public interest in identifying and protecting (as necessary) this nation’s cultural resources. Not only that, but part of my job is to help balance this public interest with other public interests, including cheap and/or greeen energy, new or better roads/bridges/waterlines/sewer lines, and places to shop, live, and play. Naturally, these interests can be contradictory, and the mediating function of my work should be understood by the public. Not to mention the fact that public funds often directly or indirectly fund my work.

Most of this work, while conducted right under your nose, is not seen by the public. This extends from something as mundane as the holes I dig (covered in such a way so they’re unnoticed), to the artifacts I find (either left in the field or stored at a curation facility, where they’re only available to researchers), to the reports generated (often only submitted to the client and the permitting agency, at best a couple of hundred copies are printed). I know that some of the large excavation reports we’ve done for TxDOT are required to have a number of copies available with the site location information redacted, for public distribution, but I couldn’t tell you what libraries have them or how to get one. By blogging about my work (and sharing photos through Flickr, along with Facebook updates and the occasional tweet) I can shed some light on the process and the results, hopefully so the public can understand what I do, why it’s done, and why it matters.

This doesn’t exactly answer the question, so let me try a simple, direct approach (which builds on the above discussion):

The place of blogging in the discourse between professionals and the public discourse is two-fold.

First, it is one of the best ways of direct engagement between professional archaeologists and the public, outside of face-to-face encounters (which usually are rushed because I’m on the clock and have a lot to do and am tired and sweaty and may not have anything cool to show you). Despite the obvious public interest aspects of professional archaeology, the amount of interaction and information is pretty sparse, one-sided, and tends only to happen at the end of a project (and only large projects at that).

Secondly, blogging helps demystify the work of archaeologists. Like most jobs, it’s often mundane, boring, and repetitive. Archaeology is more about hoping to find cool sites than it is about actually finding them; we deal a lot more with “negative data”, which as the saying goes “is still data” (and yes, I know “data” is plural) . CRM archaeology isn’t really like National Geographic or Discovery Channel digs, and while CRM finds do occasionally make the national media, those types of finds are extremely rare. But while our sites aren’t as stunning or rich as the huge civilizations spotlighted on television, the information we recover can be just as significant to archaeology and to local history. If the public can understand this, they can better appreciate why cultural resources management practices are important and necessary, and might also encourage stewardship.

My SAA Abstract

I was asked by my good friend (actually, one of my very best friends!!) Colleen to be on a panel about blogging at the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) meetings next April in Sacramento, California. This will be my first time presenting at a professional conference, although I suspect it will be a lot more casual than if I were to be presenting about an actual project, with data and research and all that. I did do a paper for the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research meetings back in 1993 (yes, I’m old), but that was about the Sendero Luminoso movement in Peru (ah, my fiery young idealistic self…coincidentally the leader of the movement was arrested about two weeks before my presentation, after I had finished my paper and research).

Anyway, I had to cut my abstract down to 100 words for the submission site, but here it is in full:

“In the practice of archaeology, engaging with the public is an important element. By doing so, archaeologists can help to explain the value of protecting cultural resources and the important data “in the ground.” However, this interaction can also benefit the work of the archaeologist, in understanding the perspective of other stakeholders, as well as revealing sources and data not readily apparent otherwise.
Blogging, although in many ways more of a soliloquy than a dialogue, is one way that archaeologists can and do reach out to the public. By sharing data, pictures, and stories, the everyday work of an archaeologist is exposed to any who are interested. The information is more personalized, and the exchange more dynamic, than a static presentation of results.
For American cultural resource management (CRM) professionals, blogging presents a challenge. The projects are often small and unexciting, and negative results are the norm. State and federal laws are a consideration when discussing site finds. Clients may have non-disclosure contracts associated with a project, or monitor the Internet for any references to project details and negative comments. Often, there’s a sense that you’re trying to reach out to a public that just isn’t there, or isn’t responding. The work is unpaid, and finding the energy to write after a long, hot field day can be a challenge.
However, blogging should become a more important part of the practice of CRM. Publicly funded projects in particular often require a public outreach component; blogging is a way of doing this real-time, and being more inclusive of the participants.”