Documenting Your Collections
Info-Muse Network Documentation Guide

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Site Research Activity (Site Data)

Definition:

Observations:

1. This field describes the research activities at the site.
2. For better search results in your database, avoid a large variety of terms; draw up an authority list and add keywords as necessary. You can use the following authority list, based on the one drawn up by the Quebec Department of culture and communications (MCCQ)¹ for its inventory of archaeological sites:
   
   collection
   collection/test
   discovery/sampling
   evaluation
   excavation
   excavation/collection
   geophysical reconnaissance (resistivity test)
   inventory
   monitoring
   salvage excavation
   test
   test/excavation
   visual identification
3. This field is used in conjunction with the Research Date and Site Researcher fields.

Entry rules:

1. Enter a keyword from the authority list above.
2. This field will contain several entries if several research activities have taken place on the site at different dates. Since the earliest date is the most important, enter the most recent data at the end of the field. Entries should be separated by a semicolon followed by a space.
   Example

   A site discovered by Alberto Riviera in 1965 was collected by John Granger in 1966 and tests were conducted by the same person on August 29, 1967.

   	Site Research Activity	discovery/sampling; collection; test
   	Research Date	1965; 1966; 1967-08-29
   	Site Researcher	Riviera, Alberto; Granger, John; Granger, John

3. If you are unsure whether your information is correct, include a space and a question mark after the keyword.
   Example

   A site probably visually identified in 1973 by Marie Silverberg

   	Site Research Activity	visual identification ?
   	Research Date	1973
   	Site Researcher	Silverberg, Marie ?