Document and data continuity at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how archaeological document collections are layered entities and, thus, consist of documents that may be in discordance with one another. Implications of this scenario for scientific study are discussed. Tensions arise between archaeological and Information and Library Science practices. Curators become primary agents in reconstructing the appropriate representational continuity of these documents.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is an in-depth examination of documentation in the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology. It assesses how representations between documents are maintained as part of the collection management process. A document archaeological analysis of the Angel Mounds Collection shows how discordant data between documents is reconciled.

Findings

The study shows how documentary institutions are central to maintaining the chain of reference necessary to maintain the veracity of scientific data. Documents are embedded within a professional network of classification control that has implications for the conceptualization of documents. The study can help scholars gain a more nuanced view of the role of documents in scientific knowledge creation.

Social implications

Curatorial intervention plays a central role in maintaining the veracity of scientific data. In this way, the narrative shows how social and professional scientific discourses are impacted by curatorial intervention and that this process is inextricable from how we understand “knowledge” broadly construed.

Originality/value

This study examines how documents are embedded within a broader collection context and further studies should acknowledge this. It shows how documents within the domain of archaeology pose specific issues of concern for document curators and scholars, especially in relation to the documentation of spatial data, which is central to this work.

Citation

Montoya, R.D. and Morrison, K. (2019), "Document and data continuity at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 75 No. 5, pp. 1035-1055. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2018-0216