Archaeologists and their information sources

Abstract:

In spite of the moderately growing interest in humanities researchers and practitioners information activity, there is only a little research on individual disciplines like archaeology. The importance of understanding of how archaeologists use information has increased during the last two decades because of the digitalisation of archaeological information processes, privatisation of archaeological fieldwork especially in many European countries and growing pressure on the efficiency of archaeological work around the world. The aim of the present study is to explicate and discuss the patterns of information source use of archaeology professionals. The study is based on an empirical investigation of the work and information behaviour based on qualitative intreviews of 25 Finnish and Swedish archaeology professionals. The findings suggest that the information use patterns and source selection of archaeologists is at the same time dependent on the demands of the multifaceted nature of the archaeological work and the limitations imposed by how information is managed and disseminated in archaeology. The results imply that more open forms and processes of disseminating information and systematic development of relevant finding aids would increase the impact of archaeological information and facilitate the work of archaeologists.