This past week, Louisiana’s Board of Supervisors for higher education rubber-stamped a proposal from Northwestern State University of Louisiana to eliminate the university’s bachelor’s and master’s degrees in heritage resources just as these groundbreaking interdisciplinary programs were hitting their strides. The Master of Arts in Heritage Resources (MAHR) was on track triple its number of graduates in the next year.

In full disclosure, this is a highly personal story for me. My wife ElizaBeth (tenured, and just promoted to full professor) developed and heads up the MAHR program. She will ironically be the only faculty member eliminated along with that program. Her equally competent counterpart in the Bachelor of Arts in Heritage Resources (BAHR), Julie Ernstein, is a dear friend who will be the only person to go with that program.

I’ve watched ElizaBeth and Julie work tirelessly over the last few years to create an environment where their students can enjoy an Ivy League educational opportunity at a state university. The programs have succeeded with graduates who are contributing to cultural heritage throughout the United States in really big ways.

Disposing of two uniquely sustainable programs and the two people that made them that way makes no sense on any level. But, when budgets are tight, university administrations will stick to what they can get their heads around. The importance of cultural heritage is highly individual and not so easy to communicate as Save the Whales.

The fact is, no university heritage preservation program can truly call themselves “safe” in these times. Consider what MAHR/BAHR had going for them:

These low-cost programs brought in a half-million dollars in grants during their brief existence. Their 2007 grant proposal to the Board of Regents was ranked first in the state.

The MAHR program partners with local organizations to pay half the cost of graduate assistantships. No other NSU graduate program brings in this kind of money, so it’s odd that MAHR is the ONLY graduate program eliminated in this plan.

Local heritage organizations have gone on record that they will fundraise to keep heritage resources at NSU alive. NHF has endowed one scholarship for the MAHR program and was about to fund another.

The MAHR program is NOT a low completer by La. Board of Regents standards. In fact, it’s considered a program on the rise.

When MAHR was placed on the “review” list, the program was supported with dozens of letters, phone calls and personal meetings from the community. Folks care about this program.

The interdisciplinary concept for these programs was developed here at NSU and is now being replicated at universities across the country. Guess those folks will now become the torchbearers for this important legacy.

If not for the recovery operation mounted by the MAHR/BAHR students, faculty and alumni, the contents of local Bayou Folk Museum would have been totally lost when the Kate Chopin House was destroyed by fire in 2008.

It’s easy to write this off as a casualty of Louisiana’s perpetual dysfunction at all levels. In this case, the university took the initiative in cutting this completely unique program before the Board of Supervisors/Regents (which is asking for $20 million in cuts from higher education institutions) made any implications about what should go, though their early directives emphasized eliminating duplicate programs.

Northwestern State University Heritage Resources students at the salvage of the Bayou Folk Museum in 2008. Many of author Kate Chopin's original works were recovered by the program's students, faculty and alumni.Losing a historic structure is a sad thing. Losing generations of folks to expertly protect cultural heritage is much, much worse.

But the fact is that if this could happen to a high-quality, nationally respected and emerging program here, it could indeed happen anywhere. As governments hint at dramatically reducing deficits over the next several years, it’s clear the necessary cuts will be trickling down to the rest of the nation–just as they did in Louisiana–with potentially disastrous consequences for heritage preservation education.

If folks in cultural heritage want to make sure there is a next generation to fill their shoes, protecting quality educational programs is going to have to be a part of everything we do. Professionals in archaeology, historic preservation, landscapes, architecture, etc., will have a present a unified voice to advocate for these programs worldwide. With the emergence of the social web, we’ve got the tools to make this a reality, so the fate of the MAHR/BAHR programs doesn’t have to happen again.

For me, this particular situation is worse because the University is my alma mater and that I was born in the Cane River region of Natchitoches Parish, La., where this is all going down. I’m proud that my home is one of the few places in the U.S. with the diversity of heritage resources and organizational partnerships that could support these kinds of programs so well. And right now, I’m very afraid for it’s future.

Even when things have not been historically good in Louisiana, we could always look to our cultural heritage as a source of pride. But our heritage is jeopardized every time our state encounters another disaster. Right now, NSU heritage resources students and alumni are on the ground in the middle of the oil crisis, safeguarding our heritage resources with the skills and training they learned here.

Such a proud and important legacy. And one sadly cut way too short.

For all their potential, the social networking tools are a continuation of the human struggle to find our place, at a more demanding pace. But that kind of wholeness can’t just be found in to future. It’s in experience the now, and setting the brief little moments that we’re here on earth into perspective of the people, places and events that brought us here — and ensuring that folks down the line have the same opportunity.

Part of rediscovering our genuine identity lies in heritage values. So, what does that mean? what’s the difference between history/culture and heritage? The best answer I’ve seen can be found at the UMASS Amherst Center for Heritage & Society (ACHS). Essentially, it says that heritage is caring; It’s connecting and thinking a resource is worthwhile enough for the effort to preserve both the resource and its memory on an individual and collaborative level.

And it  is not just about preserving old things. It’s about knowing the context of why you preserve them.

It’s also about the people who created them and understanding the stories of how they managed to survive and bring beauty and expression to our world. It’s the backdrop for who we all are, and I think it’s an essential part of the story of each individual and organization engaging on the social web.

We all seek to connect with our heritage as part of discovering our place in humanity. These are values that deepen with time, but are often planted as seeds in childhood–a visit with a grandparent or a trip to a heritage site. With the pace and breadth of connections in the virtual world, how will current and future generations connect with what’s past, and what will happen as they age and look back for that sense of identity? Will it be there waiting or will they face an undefinable void in their human experience?

Not everyone connects to heritage on the same level, just like they don’t all connect to using the web to communicate on the same level. You have to meet individuals where they are, with their own experience levels, cultures and hangups.

The web empowers us to discover our identities on a deeper level, and that capability becomes even more powerful with intentional curation. As you discover what you’re about — what you care about — then start talking about it online and off, you’re well on your way. The ACHS site puts it well:

“Who owns “The Past” and who is entitled to speak for past generations?  Active public discussion about material and intangible heritage–of individuals, groups, communities, and nations–is a valuable facet of public life in our multicultural world.”

What can you do to add to the discussion about the heritage resources that inspire you to care? Every thoughtful word and action ensures their legacy and yours. Just add something to the discussion now.

Thumbnail graphic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anythreewords/3237214041/

Guest post by David Connolly and Maggie Struckmeier of Past Horizons & BAJR Federation

With the increase in social networking and interactive web-based systems over the past few years, archaeology has in general been slow on the uptake, however, there were those there at the start and those that are catching on to the potential, with more appearing on a weekly basis.  They range from the stunning, innovative and genuinely useful (which get filed under favourite) to those that may have the best intentions but miss the point completely.

Not wanting to focus on the negative, it goes without saying that Voices of the Past, Past Horizons and BAJR Federation are great examples of technological openness and creativity, but it would be unfair to put them into our top ten sites.  So, without further adieu, these are the websites we feel add to the experience, by utilising the social web that now has become so much a part of lives.

Facebook Groups & Fan Pages

There are several hundred ‘archaeology groups’ and pages – however, the secret is in the interactivity, rather than just sitting there, with a never ending procession of people advertising their own pages, which then contain a list of other people advertising their page or group.   There are three stand-out groups/pages that make a good start to any day, are unique in their content and also have an active membership who contribute, comments, photos and useful links.

The Official Movement To Bring Sexy Back To Archaeology: Funny, irreverent and with attitude–a great supplement to the main website/blog.

Arch Points: Everything you never thought you wanted to know.  One nugget of information a day, from how to survive a charging buffalo to recording painted plaster.

How to be an Archaeological Fieldfashionista: An outlet for both those moments of archaeological fashion genius as well as those archaeological fashion disasters. Good fun and a way to keep connected.

Flickr

Flickr is another site with a plethora of groups dedicated to archaeology from the local through experimental, aerial and world views.  But my current favourite:

Archaeology Travel Photos: Love this group as the photographs are constantly being added (over 22,000 at last count) and this means that you can travel the world of archaeology and find places and sites you may have never heard of.  Many images are complete with locations and detailed descriptions, which means you can learn a little more each day.

Canmore: Search over 275,000 buildings, archaeological and maritime sites across Scotland. Discover what photographs, drawings, manuscripts and books are in their collections and view over 100,000 digital images

And now our favourite bit: Add your own contributions to Canmore. Search for a site, register, and upload an image or add some information. Next time you go for a walk, and take a good image of a site … upload it! Next time you see a site and feel that it could do with a better description, or want to update the condition, or have additional information from local studies … add it! This is the way that National Records are supposed to be!

YouTube/Vimeo

You would think that archaeology and video would go well together, but strangely, this is a desert in as far as dedicated channels are concerned.  We are always on the look out for new ideas and inspiration from videos on YouTube, but can go for weeks without a single decent upload. But there are 3 exceptions!

Archaeological Institute of America channel: Videos about archaeology by the Archaeological Institute of America — excavation, site preservation, interviews with archaeologists, and more!

Penn State Abington Anthropology: For students in the Anthropology and American Studies courses taught by Dr. P.J. Capelotti at Penn State Abington College. Here you will find videos related to the history and archaeology of polar exploration methods in historical archaeology and more.

Thames Discovery on Vimeo: We love theses, because they range from the informative and very, very watchable, to the very, very funny! All created by Anies Hassan of Tollun Films, he has a slew of videos that show what can be done in archaeology, with a bit of imagination and an eye for a show.  Training videos on the Thames Discovery Programme, Timelapse at Catal Hoyuk, records of an excavation and even a bit of dance.  What more do you want?!

Scribd

A document sharing site that links to every other social network from Twitter to Facebook, allowing the easy sharing of documents, reports and articles with a mass audience, as well as creating a stored archive.  The early adopters of this technology have remained the leaders so as we have to ignore the BAJR reports and guides, we will point towards a specific Archaeology Scribd contributor, that always has something fresh to read:

Wessex Archaeology: With 317 documents and reports online, they are doing their best to make archaeology accessible. And with over 17,000 subscribers, they must be doing something right.

Teaser photo elements courtesy of webtreats and Wessex Archaeology

That’s the phrase I often use to describe my experience as a new intern in the heritage preservation field. But the more bloggers I meet and with each news article that crosses my screen, I realize the ignorance behind the statement.

I was convinced  preservation and heritage values were for the elitists. They were things far beyond my grasp that required a doctorate to participate or even comprehend. Granted, those things might help with understanding some of the more technical jargon, but they are not a necessity.

I will never forget meeting Folklorist Dale Jarvis from Newfoundland, Canada soon after I volunteered to help  at Voices of the Past. We discussed his uses of new media and how they intertwined with his job as a folklorist. He discussed boat builders and campfires and fairy tales. And there was something about the conversation that intrigued me. Dale became the first of many heritage-minded folks I began to “follow” and “RSS” (a term I have learned because of my new interest in heritage preservation).

There was a question that was addressed during the interview that seems ingrained in my mind. “Is this storytelling a dying art?”

To which Dale responded,

“I really believe that things are always in a constant state of evolution. I think traditions are always changing, and I think that the rise of things like YouTube indicate that people are really passionate about storytelling. They really want to share their own personal stories.”

The thing about heritage preservation, it’s more than simply excavations, campfires and tombstones.

Heritage focuses beyond keeping the “old” around. Rather, heritage focuses on ensuring the “old” remains relevant. Heritage is about the “why”: a word as a future journalist I have come to adore.

Why King Tut was brought to Dallas, Texas. Why Twitter has become a phenomenon. Why everyone and their grandmothers (literally) are on Facebook. Why you come and visit Voices of the Past.

I didn’t have the “baptism by fire” experience I thought, rather it has been this ongoing experience throughout my life. It is the endless days I would sit mesmerized with my grandparents as they shared their stories. It is the shoebox of memories buried at the top of my closet and the homecoming mums that dominate my childhood-bedroom wall. It is my fascination with the Mona Lisa and the folks’ desire to discover if she is the infamous da Vinci in drag.

Heritage isn’t something that we need a degree to participate in or comprehend. Heritage is found in the simplicities around us. And as Dale said, it is the constant state of evolution we all participate in.

Social media is giving birth to the next evolution of heritage. Think about how heritage fields have developed up to this point. They’ve become increasingly specialized and discrete within their own niches. In some ways, this refines the science of those occupations, but that comes with a cost. For example archaeology is not a pure science that exists in a bubble. There is context to be considered in any excavation, and one has to go beyond careful digging to fully understand the site and be able to communicate it not just to other archaeologists, but to the public.

This is an area the heritage field is having the toughest time absorbing. To this point, the world has been all about studying, categorizing and putting interpreted concepts on display as authoritative truth. In some ways, it mirrors the role the news media has played for more than a century. As the public becomes more aware through the social web, there is less belief in the authoritative truth of anything.

In a sense, it was always that way. We bring our own experience and beliefs to any situation. We see it through that lens. Today, that view is just being validated to a greater extent. We all can talk about what we’re seeing and put our own spin out there. Taken in the right spirit, this can really benefit heritage professionals, because they better understand where their constituents are coming from and engage them in a thoughtful conversation on the topic. It’s also very possible that they will learn something they didn’t know.

So, one of the great things about social media is that it empowers people–gives them a safer platform from which to voice their opinions. I’ve found this to be true in my own life as well. Though I’ve made my career in public relations, I’m not the type to self promote or put myself in front of others.

When I first began delving into the possibilities of social media in 2006, I never would have dreamed that I would be designing websites and blogging, much less hosting podcasts, video newscasts or teaching in a university setting.

I engaged in small ways initially, commenting on the blogs of others. One of those comments was part of a blogging competition held by a web designer in South Africa regarding a direction for his next design designs. Folks argued back and forth in his comments section. The prize was a ticket to the Future of Web Design conference in London.  As the only person in the thread who wasn’t a web designer, I was shocked to win. I had never been out of the U.S. to that point!

We all curate our own reputations online these days. Ultimately, the real gem of this situation is that we’re understanding each other better. So, whether you’re in  South Africa, Louisiana, or China, we can all communicate easily, for free. And the ability to be so open in communication, opens minds as well.

Tell us how “Electric Archaeology” began?

By training and inclination, I’m an archaeologist. As part of my thesis work, I became interested in social networks in the past. But I was frustrated at some of the limitations of social networks analysis. It only allowed me static snapshots. I wanted something a bit more dynamic. One thing led to another, and I became interested in agent-based modeling, using ancient social networks as the skeleton. This led me to a conference at the University of Nebraska in 2006. Feedback I got there suggested that I should blog my research. I started ‘Electric Archaeology’ shortly thereafter. There are many archaeological blogs out there, but comparatively few that focus on archaeology-as-a-digital-humanity. So I found my niche.

What exactly is Agent Based Modeling?

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a simulation methodology. But instead of trying to create some sort of comprehensive equation that describes the object you are simulating, you instead describe the behaviors of individuals. Then, you replicate these individuals, and allow them to interact in an environment. Because each individual has its own unique suite of characteristics, the way they interact cannot be predicted. So you end up with emergent behavior. This emergent behavior is what you’re interested in. Take for example a traffic jam (one of the standard examples for explaining emergence), Every car has its own driver. The driver has limited knowledge about what’s going on, on the road. She can see in front and behind. Woops! The guy in front has just stood on the brakes, so Suzy has to swerve. This causes Jacques to step on his brakes, and honk his horn… ad nauseam…

From above, these limited interactions cause a traffic jam to emerge. The jam travels backwards down the highway, relative to how the cars are moving. New cars enter the jam, and old cars leave the jam – but the jam continues to exist. The jam can be said to exist at a higher level of complexity than the individual cars that compose it.

How is this relevant to archaeology?

In terms of ancient history, one of my first ABM’s concerned the diffusion of information in the Roman empire. Specifically, I was interested in what the conception of geographic space implied for how information travelled about. The Romans didn’t use maps, per se. Rather they had lists of ‘itinteraries’, or descriptions of the towns one had to go through to get anywhere. Rather like saying, to travel from Montreal to Detroit, go via Kingston – Toronto – Windsor – Detroit, instead of looking at a map. So I turned these itineraries into an environment for my individual agents to interact on. Then I gave one a ‘message’, and measured how long it took for the message to diffuse to everyone else. I found structural differences in the way space was conceived then that seemed to map onto archaeological materials.

What did you learn with your first ABM?

Well, it did seem to suggest alternative explanations for patterns in things like the expressions used in tombstones – what might be called Romanization … but it was published, and so it showed me that there was something to this ABM approach that I could use for more complicated questions.

For example, how do political and cultural territories emerge? What was it about Roman social organization that allowed it to whether the periodic self-extermination of elites? That kind of thing. The first question I tried to address with my ‘TravellerSim’ model; the second one with my ‘PatronWorld’ model.

TravellerSim took about four months to build, test, validate, and write up; PatronWorld has been the project of about two years, but I’m happy to say that it’s in-press and will be published shortly.

So how do these technologies affect archaeology in terms of openness on the web?

They allow us to ask questions of the material that we couldn’t ask before. They make our assumptions about the past explicit — or rather, they force us to be explicit. When you make a model or a simulation, you are encoding a particular view of how the world works into your code. It’s a kind of rhetoric. So, I have to make all of my code available for others to interrogate, challenge, adapt, or expand. It could be that my models all contain some kind of fundamental flaw in my assumptions about how the ancient world work.

That would still be a good result, if someone else read my papers and said, “Graham’s wrong — his code implies x, y, and z, and we know that that wasn’t the case for reasons a, b, and c,” It forces openness.

If somebody publishes a model, but doesn’t let you see the code, then you have no reason to believe the results. For archaeology, I think it’s a good thing, in that it promotes openness with data. For any discipline, really. Folks who sit on data do not help advance knowledge.

How many ABMs have you made?

Three that I’ve brought to publication; I’ve got another three that I’m toying with. The neat thing about the envrionment that I use — Netlogo — is that the models are a bit like Lego blocks. You can use parts of one in another one. So once you get going, it builds up its own momentum. I know of a fellow at another university who is using some of the components of my models in his own models.

How prominent are these models in traditional archeology?

I think they’re gaining ground. They have been used successfully in research relating to the Anasazi in the American Southwest, and to a degree in work related to Mesopotamia. I think I might be the only person currently building models on Roman antiquity. Though I know of some graduate students who are beginning to explore it in their own research.

Social networks analysis is also gaining ground in archaeology and ancient history; it’s a rather different methodology, but a key feature of my ABM work is that I try to run my models from starting positions known from antiquity, based on the social networks that were evidenced then.

So how did you first get started with this?

Well, I first heard of the methodology when I was starting my Ph.D. back in 1999. I was chatting with a geographer from the University of Bristol; I was interested in GIS then, but he described running an agent model on top of the data from a GIS, and I was hooked.

Unfortunately, at that time, building an ABM was rather complicated (it’s still not altogether easy, but it gets easier all the time), so I had to shelve the idea. I resurrected it when I did my postdoc. I saw a workshop on ABM advertised, persuaded my supervisor to let me go, and I was away to the races, as it were. The workshop at Nebraska was their Center for Digital Humanities’ first workshop on the subject, and I was an invited finalist. The other folks were presenting interesting work on data mining and lexigraphical analysis of historical texts.

My work was certainly different. But I got a real boost from the feedback I received there, and I’ve been carving out this niche ever since.

I should clarify – the workshop I attended to learn about ABM was at Mesa State College in Grand Junction Colorado; that was in 2005. The Nebraska workshop was in 2006.

What role does your blog play in your research?

The blog connects me the wider community of researchers who use agent based modeling in their own work. Agent models are used to understand everything from how pedestrians might cross a new intersection layout, to the spread of Avian Flu. There’s a lot of fertile cross-collaboration, in terms of sharing ideas and so on.

“For any discipline, really … Folks who sit on data do not help advance knowledge.”

Where else are you online?

Well, I’m in LinkedIn, and I participate in some group blogs like the Ancient World Bloggers Group. My day job is as an online faculty trainer, so I’m online in that sense every minute of the work day I also contribute to some general Classics social network sites like ‘eclassics’ on ning. I post occasionally to game sites like Civfanatics.com too.

Could you tell us some about the “When on Google Earth” project?

“When on Google Earth?” is just a game, really … I saw a blog post by some geologists, who were playing “What on Google Earth?” In their game, someone posts a pic from Google Earth, showing a particular landform. The aim is to identify the nature of the landform, and where it is on earth. The winner gets the bragging rights, and gets to post the next picture. So I adapted it to archaeology. There is a lot of archaeological material visible on Google Earth, so I had it in my head that this could be a kind of public archaeology. I started it this time last year, and it’s now in its 79th edition. Some other folks created a Facebook page to keep track of the game. After that initial post I made, I haven’t been able to win a round since!

You seem to be finding archeology through many of the social networking sites. Could you explain to us the “TweetMapping Archeology?“

TweetMapping is a concept where the tweets on various subjects are mapped against either the location where they were made, or against the location that they mention. On the original tweetmapping site, the fellow used Yahoo Pipes to create an application that would tweetmap whatever search term you punched in. So I punched in ‘archaeology’ and ‘archeology’ and linked it to my blog.

The idea then is to give the most up-to-date view of what is sometimes called ‘the hidden web’, the web that Google and the other search engines don’t search (although that is now rapidly changing). So if anyone was tweeting about the latest archaeological news, ‘TweetMapping Archaeology” ideally would display it.

Could you tell us your involvement in Second Life as Canadensis Yellowjacket?

Ah! That’s a project currently onhold, until I can get a better internet connection! I’m on satellite internet, so the lag time makes navigating SL extremely difficult, if not impossible.

But what I have been trying to accomplish there was related to public archaeology and archaeological education, and the concept of immersiveness. When you play a video game, or enter one of these 3-D worlds, you soon stop saying — “my character just flew up the side of the building” and you start saying ” I just flew up to the roof!.”

They allow you to project yourself into them (there’s really interesting work going on at the moment about this phenomenon as it relates to autistic people). So, if you can’t go on excavation, you could at least learn something about what is involved by being a part of a virtual one in Second Life. So I built one. I could link objects in Second Life to archaeological databases elsewhere on the web.

Once I get better internet service, I’ve been invited to build one of my “excavations” on the island owned by the American Anthropological Association.

Another possible use of SL for archaeology involves reconstruction sites. A fantastic project is the virtual ‘Catalhoyuck’ project and OKAPI; see Colleen Morgan’s work (she’s absolutely brilliant), which she blogs about at middlesavagery.wordpress.com.

So with all the different ways to connect out there, what do you think is the future of archeology and related conversations?

It’s going to be exciting. I know some folks are experimenting with Google Wave, though I haven’t had the opportunity yet. Google touts it as the next best thing… a sort of real time multi-user collaboration suite. I think the best archaeology is going to be using the web and whatever else emerges on it to make the ‘writing’ of archaeology more participatory, more collaborative. You might call it more democratic. But I hesitate to say, since I’ve got a bad track record in predicting the future.

As an undergrad in 1994, I was asked to write a paper about what I could find on the internet regarding the Etruscans. I believe I wrote something to the effect, “this internet is filled with garbage and will never be useful to archaeologists.” So anything I say, take with a large lump of salt.

Platforms are beginning to emerge online that allow archaeologists to share and disseminate the raw data generated during their studies; that will be an interesting thing to watch.

What would you like to come of your blog?

I would hope it continues to attract readers who view it as a great resource; I also hope it continues to be a venue that connects me with researchers and other interested individuals who can say, “have you thought about … have you seen …” My blog I regard as my ‘public service’ to the profession.

It’s where I reflect on what’s happening, and provide pointers to new technologies that might have an impact on how we explore and understand the past.

I saw one person tagged it on delicious with ‘mildly interesting’. If I can get that up to ‘fairly’, that’d be good …

What is your advice to beginning archaeologists and bloggers?

Well, a blog is a great place to reflect on what you’re doing, and what your interests are. More and more graduate students are keeping blogs about their research, and are using them to reach out to other students and professionals. Ask yourself why you’re doing this, and where you hope to take it.

Some excavations keep blogs as a way of reaching the interested public; and some of the most exciting research is documented on blogs, since the publication cycle can take so long. Academic blogs are starting to be viewed as legitimate publication vehicles, and that’s a trend I hope continues & accelerates.

“I had no idea that the Parks Service had a bunch of their journals online,” Dan says. “It’s great to find online heritage resources I didn’t know about, especially those I should’ve known about.” The post outlines the purposes of three publications: Common Ground, CRM Journal and Heritage News.

It’s suddenly all so clear.

“I have some bad news. The city of Kewanee [Illinois] will take down the big hedge tree on Tuesday. Safety hazard they say.”

So began the e-mail that ultimately saved the lone survivor of an osage-orange hedge originally planted as an experiment to combat the 1930s dustbowl. It’s a story that demonstrates just how powerful the internet can be to rally people for the protection of heritage resources in a positive way.

Contents:

• Zimbabwe’s prehistoric paintings show the past and a celebration of life
• Motorway bypass would run close to Newgrange
• Stonehenge visitor centre finally approved
• Iron Age adventures in England
• Iron Age treasure on display in Edinburgh
• Search for an ancient settlement in Southern Spain
• 3,000-year-old remains of a woman found in California
• Stanton Drew circle older than thought
• Seahenge set to be complete

Narrator is our old friend David Connolly (BAJR)

Audio file mastering: Dave Horrocks (Infinite Wave)

Listen to the weekly Archaeo News [Total time 16:43]

Heritage in context (i.e. looking at an object with respect to all the relevant heritage professions) is central to our mission here at Voices of the Past. It’s also a topic of Vince Michael post that explores the historical motives of interpretation in the preservation movement. Even today, heritage resources are won or lost based on the political influence of their supporters. Vince cites today’s open interpretive approach taken by some National Trust [and might we mention National Park Service properties] to conclude ”… our current memory infrastructure requires an ever expanding field of relevance and revelation.”

Lots of wonderful content to use on the National Archives Flickr Stream.

This is a new site that focuses on the use of new media concepts in the museum setting. It delves into the technology of … oh, let’s just let them say it:

“This website is an initiative of the award-winning Dutch company Infofilm. Infofilm is producer of digital media for museums: touch-screen apps, online collections, museum audio and video tours,  rfid-, wifi-, iphone-, ipod touch-applications, 2D and 3D animations, motion graphics, big screen presentations, cross media, etcetera.”

Looks promising.

WordCast, a podcast on blogging, is currently featuring the topic of blogging productivity. A panel of expert bloggers participate in the panel conversation on everything from gathering content to balancing your online presence. If you’re looking to optimize your blogging life, this is an easy and informative listen.

How do you try to bridge the gap between historic preservationists and green building advocates? What role does your blog play in your mission?

Well, if I were to sum up how these two groups often view each other via “light bulb jokes,” it might go something like this:

Q: How many historic preservationists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Change? We should just go back to candles and forget this light bulb nonsense!

Q: How many green building advocates does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Well, that old fixture isn’t terribly efficient so we’re going to go ahead and tear your old house down and design a better one.

Obviously this might be a wee bit exaggerated, but I’ve been in meetings where the tension was so thick that I thought the cornice would explode off of the building, and as a result, nothing is accomplished. I think we need more people working with, and listening to, both green building advocates and historic preservationists with an open and creative mind. I like to think that me being active on both sides of this coin gives me a unique angle, and honestly, I’m still learning all the time, so having a blog is a great way to throw my questions and opinions out there and see what I get back.

I also give lectures and workshops for universities, preservation and green building organizations throughout the city; this gives me the opportunity to introduce “greenies” to preservation issues and vice-versa. I have recently been working with an organization to administer grant funds for green retrofits on historic homes, and the homeowners get really into it, which is super fun. On the flip side of that, I worked as a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Environment while getting my Masters in Historic Preservation, so I would always weave my preservation agenda into my environmental tours, when most of the time they expected the answer to be “buy solar panels” or “replace your windows with triple-pane low-e fiberglass sashes.”

So, after two light-bulb jokes and a couple paragraphs, I guess the answer is simply “educate people through whatever means possible.”

Why do you think historic preservationists and green building advocates need each other?

Well, it’s completely unrealistic to think that we can build ourselves out of an environmental crisis. Any new building takes a whole lot of energy and creates a whole lot of waste—from the manufacturing and mining of building materials (also depleting our resources), to transportation, to creating new infrastructures, to demolition—there is simply no way around it. Of course, it is also unrealistic to think that human beings will never build new, so we need to be much smarter about building materials, sustainability, design, density and walk-ability than we have been for the past 50 years. What I spend the majority of my time doing is working on projects that involve making older buildings more energy efficient.

Of course, beyond energy, we also need to remember our history and culture and honor much of the existing architecture around us, which typically has incredible detailing, craftsmanship and materials, not to mention that our country is so young that this stuff is literally some of the oldest architecture in the history of the United States. It’s a tough balance right now for preservationists. I think that both groups are starting to come around a bit, however, and finding ways to work together. Preservationists are realizing that due to the current state of the environment, we need to worry less about the thickness of mullions during restoration projects, and begin focusing more energy on HVAC systems and weather stripping if we want to be socially responsible and actually save more buildings. Conversely, there has been more focus on energy efficient retrofits at green conferences lately. Both of these changes are likely encouraged by the current economic recession, but hey, at least some good is coming of it.

How did you get interested in preservation and architecture?

Ah, well, I stumbled upon the Robie House as a child and have dedicated my life to architecture since then. Ha, yeah, that’s totally not true. I was an English Literature major in my undergrad with a poetry focus, and thought I might go back to school for a Master’s in either Comparative Theology or Medieval Literature. In the meantime, I did public relations for the City of Chicago, worked in an orthopedic office promoting a knee replacement device, was a shipping and receiving manager at a software company, and then worked in a custom metal welding studio, among other things. Fortunately, a coworker friend introduced me to his future wife, who was a preservationist, and I was like “people can actually save buildings for a living? Whoa.”

Once the greystones started coming down around me, or being turned into unrecognizable monstrosities, I decided to volunteer with a local preservation group called Preservation Chicago, and was inspired by their chutzpah much more than I was by the work I was currently doing. I started studying architecture on my own and soon after applied to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Historic Preservation Master’s program. I began paying more attention to environmental issues at around the same time and managed to snap up an internship with the for Green Technology, where I was able to help the public on a regular basis and gather information for a manual that I was writing to help historic homeowners “green” their homes. It was both a challenging and seriously cool experience. I’m currently in the process of becoming a certified energy rater and am thinking of also getting my LEED Green Associate certification just because I can’t seem to learn enough about how these issues impact each other. I figure if I’m going to write about these things and express my opinions, I had better have an intimate knowledge of what they are all about.

Tell us about your blog “About” photo. Is there a reason you are “Superwoman?”

Oh, I’m just mostly poking fun at myself for taking on huge, seemingly insurmountable projects because I just get so obsessed and excited about things. A recent “To Do” list on my desktop actually reads: 1) Get three new certifications by the end of the month, 2) Clean apartment until it sparkles and get rid of 50 percent of my total belongings, and 3) Change the general public’s perception of architecture throughout the United States.

I realize, of course, that #2 will never happen.

Why did you decide to begin blogging?

I think it was a combination of reasons. First, I realized I was really skirting both careers and thought that perspective could be useful. There are a lot of preservationists who know about environmental issues and vice-versa, but I think that it is easy to maintain a (strong) bias when you come much later to one field than the other. While I started off with preservation, I very quickly saw the connection between the two fields in light of recent trends, so I don’t think I even know how to separate the two most of the time. Also, I think that preservationists really need to change their image, and we seem to be struggling with that. We live in a very different time than we did even 10 years ago, and now preservation is constantly measured up against exciting, innovative technologies and a sort of environmental morality that didn’t exist before. To top it off, there are a zillion new (supposedly) “eco-friendly” products and homes out there that are being marketed like mad, and it’s a lot easier to market new things than old things. It is also difficult to make the argument that some things should not change when we are constantly told that anything that isn’t new and “green” is responsible for killing baby seals.

Beyond making people understand how crucial it is environmentally to preserve, maintain and perform energy efficient retrofits on existing buildings (somewhere along the line we lost sight of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!”), Historic Preservation needs a more energetic, creative and fun side to it. You can certainly debate whether I have these qualities or not, but I can at least point out the fact that we need more of this if we are going to win over the masses and save more buildings.

And also, I think my friends and family would have thrown me to the wind turbines if I didn’t start talking about something other than architecture and the environment, so I figured I’d ease their burden a bit and find a more, er, tolerant audience.

What is your dream for your blog?

That’s a really good question. I suppose I want it to be a touchstone for students, preservationists, green building advocates, planners, landscape designers and architects, etc. when they have some downtime, and ideally a way to generate more discussion on the timely and important topics. I have also been using my friends as lab rats to see if the content is accessible for people who do not already work in the field. It’s a difficult balance to strike because I try to keep the posts relatively short—an almost impossible feat for a notorious rambler—so I can’t spend too much time explaining concepts and then also get down to the nitty gritty. I suppose it would be great if a more general public could at least start thinking more about these concepts and then possibly even get more involved in their free time.

Your blog has a fascinating combination of “personality” and fact throughout your posts …

I think that having a more casual and accessible tone makes more people want to listen to the issues and better able to grasp them. And as I’ve mentioned before, accessibility is really key. It is also important, in my humble opinion, to not take oneself too seriously or be so self-righteous that you ostracize people vs. bring them into the fold. I am certainly not infallible and always have more to learn, and want the blog to be casual enough that friendly and useful discussions can bubble up from posts. Of course, I also come from a rather large and loud Italian family—if you want to be heard you have to be either really, really loud or funny enough to at least warrant a pause.

I can’t yell on a blog…

You have some interesting guest bloggers. How do you go about finding them and getting them engaged?

I realized from the beginning that I needed to get some perspectives on these issues from places other than Chicago and beyond my own experiences. Whenever I meet an enthusiastic soul—either through my blog or various events—who have a different experience either nationally or internationally, I find it to be incredibly valuable. I’ve been fortunate to do preservation work in Louisiana, Washington and Idaho, and realized pretty quickly that different places have different battles and feelings regarding preservation. I’d like to keep growing the blog readership around the country, so including these voices is really important. And heck, they’re interesting!

How do you develop and maintain a relationship with your viewers?

I always to respond to people who contact me through my blog. I’m curious about what they do and ask them to come back and express their opinions. I also try to keep the tone playful enough that it is engaging and people want to check back periodically. Fortunately, some local advocates and organizations have also put me on their blog roll and this bumps up my readership. I think I’m really lucky to be involved in two fields that are brimming with feisty advocates and like to keep stoking those coals to keep the dialogue between groups alive.

Are you engaged anywhere else online? If so, where and why?

There are so many great places to read about what is going on in these areas. Vince Michael’s incredibly insightful blog on preservation issues is an excellent source for preservation info and great fun to read. I often to jump over to Matt Cole’s Twitter page, which covers a variety of issues, often involving planning, preservation, and sustainability issues—he updates it obsessively, so there is always something new and fun to look up. I also work with the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association on a variety of projects, and we’ve recently been discussing a series of video podcasts that cover discussions with contractors, architects and energy raters, as well as filming how to properly weatherize and insulate single-family homes. It is somewhat similar to the This Old House website links that I like to check out when I cant wrap my brain around how something works—really practical, budget-conscious and effective projects for homeowners. Check in at http://www.chicagobungalow.org in the near future for that. Beyond that, there are a variety of online research sources that I can access for free by logging into the Chicago Public Library site, and Ancestry.com is perfect for digging up historic census information.

What is your advice for anyone wanting to start a blog? Or get involved with preservation?

My favorite thing to do is convert unsuspecting citizens into preservationists, and when they are within my clutches, I can’t help but rattle off a variety of volunteer organizations or free field trips that I know will ensnare them. I occasionally even undergo covert operations with design school students to try and convince them to weave creative adaptive reuse ideas into their projects. It is always rewarding to fight for something that you are passionate about. In my experience, looking up and noticing the architecture around you, and having someone explain that many of these buildings are, or likely will be threatened for demolition is a startling discovery—call it a preservation baptism or bar mitzvah or whatever you like. Once people start really seeing the built world, the whole city becomes alive and more engaging, and once that relationship is there a person will fight to keep it because there is a connection and respect.

As for blogging, well, I think that we are incredibly lucky to have these forums where we can talk about whatever it is that we want to talk about and share it to a much wider audience than ever before. Some will argue that “tweeting” is the best way to do this, others just don’t like writing all that much, but if you have a hankering to express yourself, why on earth would you stay silent? Restorations may cost a lot of money, green retrofits can add up sometimes, but our ability to rave and educate and change a collective mentality for the better is free, and ultimately, what is more exciting than changing people’s minds? It’s simply the cheapest, most effective way to take over the world.

The purpose of this award is to recognize bloggers that are making a difference and give them a tool to personally connect to their audiences. As part of this, I have to reveal seven things you may not know about me:

1. Appropriate for the season: I have nearly 40 snowman candles. The collection began when I was five and continued as various folks gifted me with these candles over the course of several Christmases. Since realizing the coincidence, I’ve continued adding to the collection each year.
2. The animal in me is a bat.
3. After decades of thinking it was the world’s most insane sport, I recently took up boxing.
4. I’m obsessed with the television show Mad Men and can quote lines from each episode.
5. I nearly died of a rattlesnake bite when I was three years old. Still have a depression from the bite in my right foot.
6. My five-year-old regularly challenges me to philosophical arguments, most of which end with me telling her “go play.”
7. I recently discovered by accident that I’m descended from an overseer whose journals are the basis for most of what we know about 19th century plantation culture in my area.

And now it’s my turn to extend the Kreativ Blogger award to seven bloggers I admire. These folks challenge my thinking, broaden my horizons and make me laugh.

1. http://pasthorizons.com – the authoritative resource for archaeology news, presented with the latest web technologies.
2. http://sherritalley.com – A TV news anchor in my area whose blog is a pure hoot.
3. http://myhometownohio.blogharbor.com/ – A statewide blog run by a Facebook buddy who shares my obsession with helping folks communicate heritage online.
4. http://dancull.wordpress.com/ – The geekiness of conservation made fascinating. Plus, he’s British.
5. http://blog.terryhershey.com/ – The weekly Sabbath Moment instantly lowers my blood pressure 10 points. Read it and … pause.
6. http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/ – Authored by the first person I ever interviewed for this site. The gold standard for writing and thought leadership in a heritage blog.
7. http://lorelle.wordpress.com/ – Fairy Blogmother to me and too many others to name. She literally gave “Voices of the Past” its name, and defines what it means to be a blogger that makes a difference in the lives of people.

Thanks to you for joining us for the Voices of the Past journey in 2009. We look forward to bringing you more of the best heritage bloggers and new media professionals in the coming year.

The web address below will take you to ten questions regarding how you use the web and your perceptions of how social media may be used to improve the work of those involved in heritage professions. This anonymous questionnaire is one part of an ongoing study on the topic. This is an open link, so please feel free to forward copies to your colleagues.

Thank you in advance for taking 5-10 minutes out of your day to participate. Your feedback will help evaluate information and training needs for these topics in the context of heritage preservation. The questionnaire will be active through the end of 2009 and results will be shared through a Creative Commons license.

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2j8ohvffw3oqr2z/start

Photo by Dom Dada on Flickr