Hi Matthew,

        I have a number of relatively small contributions like that.  Most of them can
be either condensed or expanded, depending on the nature of the venue.  Keep  me
in mind when things settle down.

Bill

> Bill,
>  Maybe we can talk more in a month or so when I pull myself out of the
> report deadline quagmire that I am currently in. Basically, George
> Miller and I spoke (geez, maybe a year ago or so) about developing of
> a national glass database to which we could all both contribute and
> reference. Perhaps this would be below the "status" of venues where
> one could publish gray literature relating to glass containers, but it
> might also be something we consider incorporating into such a project.
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "LOCKHART BILL" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 4:44 PM
> Subject: Publication Venues and Collectors
>
>
> > Our recent thread on whether to or how much to associate with
> > collectors
> got me to
> > thinking about a couple of aspects of publiction
> >
> > Archaeological publications, especially reports, are in essence
> > reactive;
> we research
> > what we have excavated.  Many of the collectors' literature is
> > proactive,
> seeking to
> > find out more about bottles in general or bottles in specific areas.
> >
> > We need more proactive archaeological research on bottles and bottle
> making.  We
> > see many more thing differently than collectors -- not just such
> > things as
> provenience
> > instead of values or scarcity.  For example, collectors generally
> > show
> only the front of
> > a bottle--because that is all they need.  They deal in complete
> containers.  We need
> > deep description because we frequently only finds fragments.
> >
> > This brings me to a quandry that I often face.  Since my main
> > interests
> are
> > local/regional, where should I publish my findings?  The El Paso
> Archaeological
> > Society is generally interested in almost all my bottle articles,
> > and our
> regional
> > conferences (mostly prehistoric) publish my historical papers,
> > although I
> am one of
> > the few historical presenters most of the time (sometimes the only
> > one).
> >
> > Maybe we need more "mid-range" publication sources.  I can submit
> > articles
> on
> > solarized amethyst glass or depostion lag in returnable bottles to
> Historical
> > Archaeology, but what about a couple of new manufacturer's marks I
> > have
> traced?
> > Or where do I go to publish a history and bottle chronolgy of a soda
> bottling
> > corporation that had branches in Arizona and New Mexico?
> >
> > I have turned to local historical societies for books and articles
> > on
> bottlers in local
> > New Mexico towns and El Paso, thus adding to the "grey" literature.
> > And
> maybe the
> > grey literature is becoming more and more valuable.  With more and
> > more of
> us
> > vying for the refereed journals, maybe reports and articles in
> > magazines
> will begin to
> > have greater value.  Maybe even collectors magazines wil be more
> > useful as
> a
> > venue for archaeologists.
> >
> > I look forward to feedback.
> >
> > Bill
> >
> > Only Historical Archaeologists know what "Time in a Bottle" really
> > means.
> >
> > Bill Lockhart
> > New Mexico State University
> > Alamogordo, NM
> > (505) 439-3732
> >