24th December 2012, 01:35 PM
Dinosaur Wrote:Spent part of yesterday afternoon looking at recent(ish) grey lit reports online (actually I was looking for something else but bearing this thread in mind, rare bit of male multitasking?), and am I wrong or is there a gradient in specialist reports in PX assessments from south increasing in quality/quantity to north across England?
Its probably coincidence seeing that 5 of the 6 largest archaeological contractors in the UK are based south of the Trent-Severn watershed....if there is going to be be big piles of shit all over the place, it's more likely to derive from where the elephants live!!.....
..........but if there was more than synchronicity involved, it would seem to be a good argument in favour of a national rather than regional or locally based curation standard. Surely it should be possible (specifically in the case of ceramics but maybe with wider implications) to have a number of regionally based 'ceramics advisors', much in the same way as EH used to have regional scientific advisors. These could act as 'first point of contact', academic referees and co-ordinators of training etc as well as specialists in their own right. A small stipend from EH or IfA to secure their services and then the normal fee base for advice or action (which as Paul suggests could be as little as £50 depending on what is involved). They could also provide a referral service to other suitably experienced ceramics advisors where and when required.....
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...