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Archaeological science and the HER/SMR: e-conference 17th January 2005 Archaeological science has become a routine inclusion in many interventions and can play an important role in our understanding of their place in our cultural heritage. Whilst information regarding the site and, sometimes, its artefacts will appear in county HER/SMRs there is currently very limited provision to include any information about the scientific techniques used or materials investigated. Consequently it is difficult for planners or researchers to find which of these aspects have been investigated where. As a result there has been ongoing discussion between English Heritage and relevant Local Authority Officers to address this issue by developing a standard for the recording of basic information about archaeological science. This includes two components. The first is an annexe to the MIDAS data standard, to inform the development of relevant information systems for the recording and sharing of the data. The second is agreement on a relevant set of terms, for inclusion in existing thesauri, and new appropriate term-lists, for recording archaeological science. This e-mail is to inform the general members of the FISH list that we will be running an e-conference from 17th January 2005 through the FISH discussion forum and to invite you to participate. The main discussion will concentrate upon how the proposals will provide access to reports within the HER/SMR. We therefore need to make the index comprehensive yet workable for both those who will be entering the data and those who wish to query those data whether for planning or research purposes. The draft proposals will be available for consultation on the FISH discussion list file archive prior to the e- conference. There will be a digest and summary produced at the end of this e-conference and these will be placed on the Environmental Archaeology web pages (http://www.envarch.net) and the FISH web by the end of February 2005. Loking forward to active and lively debate after our Christmas festivities, Best wishes Jacqui ---------------------------------------- Jacqui Huntley English Heritage NE Regional Advisor in Archaeological Science Dept. Archaeology, University of Durham, South Road, Durham. DH1 3LE phone/fax: +44(0)191 33 41137 Mobile: +44 (0)771 3400387