11th February 2009, 10:58 AM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by Blacktusk
So its typically small `one man bands` who usually produce pretty poor to sub-standard work? I have worked with a number of small, medium and large companies who also produce `pretty poor to sub-standard work` and they get away with it. I think it all depends on who the person managing the project is, and if they have the experience, dedication and professionalism to undertake the work, it does not matter if they work alone or part of a large organisation.
As I said in the initial post, this was not intended to be an attack on one-man-bands, it just happens in my experience, in the region I am working, those guilty of the worst work are individuals. There are other one-man-bands who produce perfectly good work, and I'm not saying that the larger and indeed largest organisations are faultless, because they aren't. Far from it!
My points are (taking into account some of what has been said) -
1. Why have a list that allows people who are known to be a bit rubbish advertise for free? (Indeed, it could be argued that such lists are inadvertantly viewed as 'recommendations' by developers even when they explicity say they are not).
2. Having lists that include everyone interested in working in an area allows the developer to get quotes from masses of people for very little effort, thus enabling them to get the very cheapest price, encouraging 'poaching' of work into other areas, further damaging the pay and conditions of archaeologists (you might start working for someone who typically operates the county in which they are based, and next thing find you are expected to work two counties away and travel an additional hour or two to site for no extra pay). The worst/most amusing manifestation of this is organisations opening an 'office' (by which I mean an employee's house or a PO box) in another area just to get on that regional list. I can't imagine another profession where it would be as easy to get quotes from maybe 30-40 companies at the press of a button - if I want to find a builder I have to either rely on word of mouth, someone I have worked with before, or go through the phone book. I can't just get a list from the council of all the builders working in the area (and perhaps as many again working in the adjoining say 50 miles) and then contact them all with a single email! If that were possible I suspect the building trade would be up in arms.
The example mentioned in York (however that actually works) also suggests that there is some unevenness in the way these things work, and there are certainly cosy relationships between the curators and certain units in some areas, which make the list a bit pointless. I also think that scrapping the lists would allow a greater degree of local expertise to develop, which would be a healthy thing in many cases.