Hi Nick,

You wrote:
>I think telling people where to go to get more info about a finds assemblage or
>individual artefact is about all that can realistically be expected form most LA
>HER's in the medium term ( assuming they record the data anyway - how many meet
>the current MIDAS standard?? How many are likely to prioritise meeting a
>stricter standard for someone else's benefit? How much extra work will meeting
>the new standard make?) The data items you mention are already doable e.g. in
>HBSMR ( artefact type, date; material). The concept of peoples - isn't that idea
>less than popular in certain archaeological circles??

I don't know about HERS, but MIDAS has a wider usage, and for
researchers, detailed information on individual objects can be needed
rather than a simple cross-reference to a 'find out more'

The 'peoples' concept is indeed problematic (but then, so is 'period').
There is a huge literature on it (Sian Jones' book is a good starting
place, I think). Problematic .... but is it useful???  I am just
starting some research with Traveller communities, and for it appears
from the initial work that some, at least Travellers, would like to have
easy access to what museums libraries and archives (and, I guess, HERS)
have that would enable them to research their heritage.

This research is being lead by the Surrey History Centre, and (we hope)
partly funded by the South East Museum Library and Archive Council.  It
might be good to expand the remit to look at SMRs (any thoughts about
where we would get the funding to do that???).

Best wishes to all,

Pat

Pat Reynolds
Research Student, University of York
Surrey Museums Development Officer
currently successfully avoiding a book on qualitative research methods.
--
Pat Reynolds
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   "It might look a bit messy now,
                    but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Pratchett)