2014 Blogging Archaeology eBook

Show your sources.If there is an online source, link to it. If there is not, cite your sources inwhichever manner seems most appropriate (I tend to use the AmericanAntiquity citation standard).This one is important, and easy to forget. We are only as good as theinformation that we provide, and if we do not share our sources we bothunder-inform our readers and make it more difficult for them to discoverwhether they agree or disagree with our views and conclusions. What’smore, as professionals who wish to educate our readers, we have anobligation to help hone critical thinking skills, and helping people todistinguish between good and bad sources of information is animportant part of this.I rarely include a bibliography, instead opting for hyperlinks in the text(thus helping readers to find the information quickly). ArchaeologyFantasies does an excellent job of keeping a more traditionalbibliographic reference at the end of her posts, and also includeshyperlinks (in truth, I should follow her example, but I am a lazy, lazyman).Admit when you have been wrong.Whether in a follow-up post or in an edit to your existing entry, correcterrors that you have made.Because of the nature of our jobs, CRM archaeologists often run upagainst controversial issues surrounding land rights, intellectual property,Native American rights, and local traditions. We may also feel inclined tocomment on public controversies surrounding these or other issuesrelated to historic preservation and archaeology. When we discuss theseissues, we often do so with only partial information, and it is common forfurther information to come to light as situations progress.As a result, we must be ready to either edit our old posts or createfollow-ups (preferably with links to the follow-up edited into the originalpiece) explaining how we got it wrong. This helps to show that we arehonest in our dealings.Blogging Archaeology Page 31