17th February 2014, 04:32 PM
beamo Wrote:I stil remember how I was once unable to open up the square adjacent to the one I was excavating in Mesopotamia (where it was clear that the all answers lay regarding size of buildings etc) because each individual square had to be recorded in a separate notebook, of a type only available from Heffers in Cambridge, and all the notebooks for that season had been started. At least with SCR I could have just gone to the photocopy shop with some blank recording sheets and then got on with digging the site.
I can relate a tale at the extreme opposite end of the scale where a site (I won't even mention the country let alone the county) that totally relied on 'digital recording' i.e mapping by use of a total station was unable to proceed with any recording work, cos the TST had gone off for the day to a rescue project, and the unit in question had only access to one TST. That is not a criticism of the digital system, but demonstrates that advancement of SCR, particularly in the field of digital recording, needs to recognise that it requires a different tool kit to that required for doing these things on pen and paper. It needs a rethink of the strategy and/or if that can't be achieved, then an efficient back-up system. Many of us know lots of ways of doing things, Sometimes though I think the rigidity of SCR as practised deters the use of thought processes. That can't be a good thing for a profession that by definition deals with an infinitely variable resource and therefore requires potential infinite flexibility in its methodology.
My answer to the 'Mesopotamian' problem BTW would have been solved at the planning stage when considering the number of notebooks required for that season. If it looked likely that the opportunity would arise to open additional squares then a number of extra notebooks would be required. And why not just order a few extra anyway in case they might be needed. There would always be the following season as well...
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...