Questionnaire on archaeological conservation

Questionnaire for archaeological conservators

    **** Moderator's comments: Please respond directly to the author.

I am seeking your opinions and observations regarding the field of
archaeological conservation in the United States.  I am doing this
for a short paper to be delivered at a conference in November, 2005,
"The Conservation of Archaeological Materials: Current Trends and
Future Directions," to be held at Colonial Williamsburg, VA (see
details at

    <URL:http://www.history.org/
        history/institute/institute_about.cfm>

    **** Moderator's comments: The above URL has been wrapped for
    email. There should be no newline.

My talk is titled "A Clear Case of Profiling:  Defining
Archaeological Conservators in the U.S." and the abstract is below.
I would like to get feedback from conservators educated or working
in the United States, with the hope of defining some meaningful
trends and observations.

    Abstract: Who are these people who do archaeological
    conservation? This paper proposes to gather information about
    the background, experience, and motivations of archaeological
    conservators in the US.  This will be done through a
    questionnaire and interview process.  Among other details, the
    paper hopes to find out what kind of archaeological education
    and/or experience they have, the factors behind their choice to
    become archaeological conservators, and their experiences
    collaborating with archaeologists.  The answers may illustrate
    changes in education and job opportunities, specialization
    within the profession, the nature of archaeologist-conservator
    interactions, and other trends that may help to define future
    directions in archaeological conservation.

I have posed a series of questions to elicit the type of information
I am hoping to learn.  Feel free to answer the specific questions,
or to provide your feedback in a more "free-form" way.  Please
elaborate as much as you can.

All answers will be kept confidential, and will be discussed without
attribution.  Or if you wish your name to be attributed to your
comments, please indicate that.  I will share the text of the final
conference paper with all respondents.

Please respond by October 12, 2005, by email, phone, or Fax: (contact
information is at the bottom of this message).

If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to
contact me.  Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Questions:

    1.  What is your profession? (i.e., what do you call yourself?)

    2.  Do you consider yourself solely an archaeological
        conservator?  Or are you a conservator who works on
        archaeological objects along with other materials?

    3.  Do you specialize within archaeological conservation?

    4.  How did you decide to pursue archaeological conservation?

    5.  What degrees to you hold, and in what subjects?

    6.  Did your desire to be an archaeological conservator affect
        your choice of conservation (or other) education?

    7.  If you did not attend a specific study program in
        archaeological conservation, do you feel that your education
        program prepared you well to understand and work on
        archaeological objects?

    8.  Do you feel that more education programs specializing in
        archaeological conservation are necessary?  More internships
        in archaeological conservation?

    9.  Are you satisfied with opportunities for continuing
        education relevant to archaeological conservation?

    10. What do you think of the job market for archaeological
        conservators?

    11. Do you work/have you worked on field excavations as a
        conservator?

    12. Do you work with archaeologists to plan before an
        excavation? Or do you get called when a field project is in
        progress or finished?

    13. Do you find that archaeologists value conservators?

    14. Have you had any particularly positive or negative
        experiences with archaeologists?  What do you think are the
        ingredients for a successful archaeologist-conservator
        relationship?  Do you feel there are problems with
        archaeologist-conservator cooperation in the US, in general?
        If so, what do you believe is the basis of those problems?

    15. Do you think it is important for an archaeological
        conservator to have academic training in archaeology?

    16. Do you feel that archaeologists should be taught some level
        of archaeological conservation as part of their archaeology
        degree?  What specific topics or skills?

    17. Please provide your contact information.  Thank you very
        much.

Claire Peachey
Underwater Archaeology Conservation Laboratory
Naval Historical Center
805 Kidder Breese Street, SE
Washington Navy Yard, DC  20374-5060, USA
202-433-9731
Fax: 202-433-2729


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:17
                 Distributed: Thursday, October 6, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-19-17-032
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