Bill and Carl:
                 I am giving a brief paper (10 min. Research Report) at SHA
2005 in Sacramento entitled:

         "Ebay As a Research Tool in Historical Archaeology".

                 I will be discussing the powerful and positive  research
aspects of Ebay but also some of the problems.
This includes the new psychological subject of "Ebay Addiction."  Some time
ago at the SHA annual meetings in
Quebec City I was on a bus tour with Merrick Posnansky (UCLA) and he had
already noted the addiction phenomenon
(early postcards showing traditional African clothing).

                 Two points to remember about Ebay:

(1) it is equally good for artifact and for archival research, at least on
recent 19th-20th century sites, and
(2) you do NOT have to spend any money on Ebay in order to use it as a
research tool. All you need is a good
printer.

                                                 Bob Schuyler

At 07:50 PM 6/16/2005, you wrote:
>Carl Barna asked:
>
> > I wonder how many of you do research using Ebay items?  ;o)
>
>         As many of you know, I conduct a lot of research on local
> (Southern New
>Mexico, El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico) bottles as well as manufacturer's
>marks on glass (especially bottles).
>
>         Virtually every type of bottle appears on eBay if you wait long
> enough (and
>check consistently).  I find that most sellers are happy to answer my
>questions (I
>almost always want more information than they have supplied to prospective
>buyers)
>and many are willing to look through their sales stock and/or collections
>to find
>additional information for me.
>
>         In my area of specialization, eBay is a goldmine of information.
>
>Bill
>
>Bill Lockhart
>New Mexico State University
>Alamogordo, NM
>(505) 439-3732

Robert L. Schuyler
University of Pennsylvania Museum
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324

Tel: (215) 898-6965
Fax: (215) 898-0657
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