Conference: Archaeological Archives as a Resource: Creation, Curation and Access

Conference: Archaeological Archives as a Resource: Creation, Curation and Access - 23 February, 2012 - Dublin, Ireland. It is recognised that the process of excavation is destructive and described as the 'preservation by record' of our national heritage. Excavation records are critical to the continuing knowledge of Ireland's past and may comprise paper records, surveys, photos, drawings, ecofacts, artefacts and reports. Current legislation requires that artefacts are deposited with the National Museum of Ireland. What happens to the remainder of the archive? This one-day conference explores this important question. Focusing on the paper archive, it proposes that archaeological archives are a crucial national heritage resource, worthy of continued curation, which should be accessible to all researchers of Ireland's rich past. One of the outcomes of the conference will be the first policy document on best practice in archaeological archives in Ireland