cc: ARCH    --CMSNAMES                    ANSS    --CMSNAMES
 
From: Anita Cohen-Williams
Subject: Site reports on CD-ROMs
 
  Since we have all bemoaned the fact that so many site reports are in the
category of grey literature (that is, only a few hundred are printed and
distributed at a time, and often are not collected by larger university
libraries), what about having the actual reports available on a CD-ROM? They
could be grouped together by region, or time period covered, and would be
available to individuals and institutions. Would people buy them? Or would an
index to these same sort of site reports be more useful, with location given
for where the reports are stored? A publisher has approached me with this idea
and I am wondering what the archaeological community thinks of it.
  Another proposal that I have mentioned before is one of an archaeological
clearinghouse (and before I get jumped on, yes, I know about the
clearinghouses in San Bernardino, CA, and other locations in California). The
inherent problem with the California clearinghouses is that they do not loan
out their material, I have yet to find a searchable index for what they do
have, and not everyone can chase over to California to find a certain report.
What I have in mind is identical to the ERIC Clearinghouse for education.
There, there is an index to the published articles, and an index to education
resources (i.e. unpublished papers given at conferences, teaching materials,
pamphlets, etc.). These ERIC documents are on microfiche and are available in
most universities and college libraries. ERIC is also on CD-ROM with a fully
searchable index in the SilverPlatter software.
  The ERIC clearinghouse works because people are willing to submit their
reports and papers to them. An archaeological clearinghouse could work the
same way, with the many CRM firms depositing a copy of their reports at the
given site, and other groups (field schools, independent projects, theses,
etc.) also sending along copies of their reports.
  Now, such a project would have to be underwritten by a grant and an
institution that is willing to give the space for such a massive undertaking.
I know that NEH has such grants for reference works.
   What do people think of the two ideas, the CD-ROM site reports, and the
archaeological clearinghouse?
 
Anita Cohen-Williams; Reference Services; Hayden Library
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ  85287-1006
PHONE: (602) 965-4579              FAX: (602) 965-9169
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