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The iPod Touch: Part of the 21st Century Archaeology Toolkit

Terry

– September 1, 2010Posted in: Archaeology, Campus Archaeology Program, Digital Archaeology, Digital Social Media, Engagement, Public Archaeology

Yesterday, I was very excited to tune into the livestream of Steve Jobs and Apple’s Music Day. Not because I’m a huge music fan (which I am), or because I really wanted to know who the musical guest was going to be (Coldplay. Nice.), but because I’m an archaeologist.

Wait, wuh?

That’s right, the introduction of a new lineup of ipods had me excited, because there was the possibility that the new iPod Touch would be the tool that would make the type of digitally engaged archaeology (and any other form of digital community engagement) that I have been championing for a a while now readily available. And Mr. Jobs didn’t disappoint.

For those of you who don’t know, for the past couple of years I have been live tweeting archaeological excavations for the MSU Campus Archaeology Program (@capmsu). These tweets take place in the field, and include photos of our discoveries, discussions about our field methods, and the ability to answer questions from the public who sit in the comfort of their homes, offices, or wherever and join us on our excavations virtually. They are also forwarded to our Facebook and Flickr accounts. This has greatly expanded the traditional scope of public archaeology: what used to require a visit to the archaeological site doesn’t anymore. People from all over the world can take part, and they can engage directly with archaeologists while they’re excavating.

However, the entire project had one major drawback: it required a smartphone and access to a network. This meant that if you’re an archaeologist who just has a regular cell phone, the process won’t work. Campus Archaeology ran into this problem when I stopped being the Campus Archaeologist. My predecessor doesn’t own a smartphone, and asking him to pony up the cash to purchase one, and lock himself into a new contract with a company he might not want to be a part of, isn’t exactly fair (particularly since we’re graduate students). Not to mention, most archaeology programs are on a budget, and getting a company phone so that you can tweet typically isn’t worked into the budget.

Enter the new iPod Touch. I have been eyeing the Touch for a while now as a possible substitute: there is no phone, and therefore no contract, but it has the ability to get wireless internet. What it didn’t have before was pretty simple: it had no camera.

But now it does.

The new iPod Touch is really, almost entirely, an iPhone without a phone. It can take photos and video, find your location, even do FaceTime, the virtual video chat. There are a number of possibilities for public engagement with these elements.

Photos: well, this is obvious if you’ve followed any of our tweets: you can take pictures of what’s going on, tweet them, share them on Facebook, upload them to Flickr, and start a conversation about what you’re finding with the public.

Video: the truth of the matter is that video is going to be one of the new elements of record keeping in archaeology. Now that it is incredibly accessible, small, and easy to do, archaeologists can record difficult excavation techniques, demonstrate techniques to the public, or do quick in the field video blogs about what has been happening in the field. Perfect for both the public side and the research side of archaeology.

FaceTime: I haven’t had a chance to fiddle with FaceTime, so I’m not entirely certain what it’s possibilities are. With that said, I’m envisioning live chats from the field with different community groups, classrooms of students, or other archaeologists called in for a consultation. More on this sometime in the future.

Location-Aware: With the increasing possibilities surrounding location-based interactive social networking, the opportunities for public engagement using Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, Gowalla, and, eventually, PlaceThings will allow the iPod Touch to be used to enter in new, culturally relevant hotspots that wouldn’t exist otherwise. For example, Campus Archaeology has entered a few spots on Foursquare that were sites of buildings that don’t exist anymore (above ground, anyway). These then pop up as Tips, so that people near by can learn more about them. Of course, you have to be mindful of looting, so choose your spots carefully.

In all, their are a number of possibilities for using the Touch for public engagement, the most important being that it is much more flexible than the iPhone or any other smartphone in regards to affordability. I am certain that there are probably a number of applications for data collection and basic field notes, map drawing, etc., but I just wanted to focus on public engagement here. Of course, there is the potential drawback of needing a wireless signal, so this might not be ideal for all archaeological situations. That said, wireless will only become more available, particularly with the introduction of items like the Virgin Mobile Novatel MiFi, a portable wireless hotspot you can carry in your pocket. In all, the iPod Touch is a perfect edition to a 21st century archaeology tool-kit, and will greatly improve the ability for archaeologists to engage with the public.

What other options do you think might be available with the iPod Touch? If you have any suggestions of where else this technology could be used by archaeologists or others, please, let me know!

Popularity: 25% [?]

Tags: Archaeology, Campus Archaeology, Digital Media, Engagement, Facebook, iphone, social media, twitter

Getting Things Done…

Terry

– August 29, 2010Posted in: Graduate School, Productivity

I have a productivity plan. A way to get things done that I need to get done. It involves a Sunday night ritual where I go over my To-Do list, examine my weekly calendar, schedule appointments, pay the bills, look at my weekly expenses, and water the plants. It is a plan that, of course, involves numerous software applications and iphone doohickys, influenced by GTD, Clockwork Muse, The Creative Habit, and Inbox Zero. It’s tried and tested. When the plan is moving, it’s great. I get things done. I’m on top of the world. However, it has one fatal flaw.

I’m involved.

In order for this productivity plan to work, I have to sit down and implement it. I have to make the active decision to turn off the TV, lock my office door, sit down, and put things into gear. I’ve noticed that, as time moves on, I go from weekly to bi-weekly. Sometimes a weekend trip means I miss a week, and then it becomes once a month. Next thing I know, I realize I haven’t looked at my To Do list in months.

Typically these moments occur near the end of a semester, when I’m rushing to get projects done: There are only a couple things to do, and they are big, obvious, and due soon. I manage to convince myself that looking at my To Do list isn’t going to change anything, that big thing is still due, and it takes priority over everything else. So I push the smaller things out of my mind, and forget about it. This summer, the Campus Archaeology Field School took precedent; I was barely in front of a computer for the month. And now, the stress and hubbub of moving across country has taken its toll on getting things straight. While packing, however, it occurred to me that I hadn’t sat down and taken stock of what I have to get done this coming semester.

So, this means that this week, now that I’ve settled in Williamsburg, I need to start planning. Of course, it helps that a new phase of work and life is beginning: that’s always a good time to refresh, reevaluate, and get started in new routines. It’s one of the reasons why I love being on an academic schedule; every two or three months the semester ends, and you can pick up and begin your routines from a fresh starting point. Often this gives me a chance to try a new piece of technology, or adopt a different productivity thing I read about somewhere. It also lets me ditch old ideas that haven’t worked.

This fall, however, the things I have to complete (ahem, my dissertation), are a little bit different than those things I’ve been completing over the past few years. There is no classwork due, and no regular desk/office/field job, and no boss to report to on a daily basis. I am in charge of my own time, making my own deadlines, and setting my own goals. I have to make sure that my days are spent working on my dissertation and other research. The people I report to won’t be across the hall, they’ll be across the country. This means that there are no daily reminders about what I should be working on. I’m simply cast out into sea and expected to return regularly with a chapter. This wouldn’t be a problem if, as I mentioned before, I wasn’t involved.

So, this means I’m going to have double my efforts to stay on task; I’m going to have to be my own boss. The weekly refresh may have to move to a different day or time, so that it isn’t so easily interrupted by weekend activities. Otherwise, I am just going to have to do a better, more consistent job of staying on task and sticking to the plan. We’ll see how it goes…

Do you have any tips or pointers? How do you stay on task? Also, I’m looking for any book recommendations about how best to approach this dissertation…please leave some suggestions in the comments!

Image borrowed from PhD Comics!

Popularity: 17% [?]

“Ice and Stretch”

Terry

– August 10, 2010Posted in: Athletics, Baseball, Training

I hurt myself on Friday, running to first base in a playoff game that was already over; my feeble ground ball to the third basemen would be the final out. In typical johnny-hustle like fashion, however, I made sure to run it out, pulling my hamstring in the process. Needless to say, I won’t be running for a while.

I’ve been injured before. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. I was the player on my college baseball team who was in the training room an hour before and an hour after each practice and game. I had figured out how to ice every part of my body effectively. I have pulled my groin, quads, and hamstrings. I’ve torn a muscle, I’ve ripped up my shoulder in multiple ways, and it’s a miracle my elbow even works. Cuts and bruises were just part of the uniform, as far as I was concerned. I even suffered an injury IN the training room. So, when I pulled up lame on my way to first base Friday, I knew that most of my fall plans, such as riding my bike to the library, running a 5k, and dropping those pesky ten pounds of Jersey Giant subs I’ve been eating this month, were going to be pushed back. I also knew that a lot of the gains I’ve made as far as strength is concerned over the past year will be gone. Getting injured can be mean starting over in many ways. Regaining those steps takes time, and comes in stages.

The first is adjusting to your new situation. Everyday activities become enormous obstacles: everything that is second nature to you becomes nearly impossible. Did you just drop something? Well, that wouldn’t have been a big deal Thursday, but it’s Saturday now, and you’ve pulled your hamstring. You can’t bend over. Good luck with that. When I had shoulder surgery, getting dressed was one of the most frustrating moments of my day. Currently, putting on pants is a struggle. You can understand how that might be a problem.

Once you start to gain a bit of functionality, the issue stops being adapting, and becomes relearning. You have to relearn how to use your muscles again. Strengthen them. Work them out. Build up the flexibility. Start walking. Then jogging. Then running. For a more serious injury, this could take quite a while. For example, when I partially tore my hamstring in high school, it took almost a year for me to get full strength back, and I never regained the speed I had in high school (I did get my flexibility back…see photo above). My current injury shouldn’t take nearly that long; I anticipate a month of rehab and I’ll be back to normal. Provided I do what I’m told.

This is the hardest part for me when it comes to recovery: Patience. I constantly want to push it to see if I can do a little more, or just “test it out” on the track or the bike. This weekend I went the pool and did some walking around in it. When I mentioned it to a physical therapist, she made a face that looked she’d just swallowed a lemon. “Ice and stretch,” she said. “That’s all you do this week. Doing anything else is just like picking at a scab”. But that’s the most difficult thing for me. I’m an active guy. I want to be moving around, doing things. I at least want to know that I can go to the gym if I want to. At the moment, I can’t, and that bothers me to no end. This gets even more dangerous as I gradually get better: the more functional I become, the more anxious I am to try more things.

I am actually hoping that I will get linked up with some physical therapy. It helps to have a trained professional tell me that, no, I’m not ready to start training for a 5K, but yes, I can tack on additional weight to my hamstring curls. Also, I enjoy the repetition, it helps me get back in the groove of going to the gym regularly, so I can hit the ground running (or slowly jogging) once therapy is over. In the long run, these injuries only serve to make a stronger person. Adversity leads to a need to work harder. I learn more about my body, what its strengths and limitations are, and more about myself: what am I willing to take? What am I willing to give to recovering? How bad do I want to be back on the field next season?

I can assure of this, I want to be back pretty badly.

Which means you can catch me at home, icing and stretching.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Tags: Baseball, injury

Big Changes…

Terry

– July 9, 2010Posted in: Archaeology, Graduate School, Research, St. Mary's City

I have spent most of my life in East Lansing, Michigan. I grew up here, I attend elementary, middle, high and graduate school here, my family lives here. The time I didn’t spend here was down the street, attending Kalamazoo College. I have made what I consider to be a pretty fantastic life here. This August, however, I’ll be leaving.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to many of you…I’ve been planning on moving to the Chesapeake for a while now, since that is where my dissertation research is located. Now that my proposal has been defended, I can begin the stage in my research where being close to my data is important. What has been up in the air has been the location, as it has revolved around where Ashleigh (@AshHeck), my partner in crime and life, found a new job. A few weeks ago, she was offered a fantastic job at William and Mary, working in their Career Services office, sending us to Williamsburg. We couldn’t have asked for a better spot, as it has plenty to offer both of us.

Needless to say, this is a difficult move for me. I will be leaving behind a family that lives down the street, a community of friends that I will miss seeing every day, a city that is finally pulling together and moving forward behind the strong will of so many great people, and a university that I have only recently been able to fully appreciate for all that it is, and all the amazing opportunities it has afforded me. I have little doubt that living in East Lansing and Lansing, being exposed to Michigan State’s education, and the relationships that I have made along the way, has shaped who I am as a person, and who I will become as a professional. Leaving that behind is a difficult thing to do.

With that said, Williamsburg will provide new opportunities, new challenges, new people, and a new setting. I am excited for the possibilities for both Ashleigh and I professionally. Thanks to generous funding from Historic St. Mary’s City and the MSU Campus Archaeology Program, I will be able to dedicate most of my time to working on my dissertation, and will be located only three hours from my research site and data, housed Historic St. Mary’s City. I am still working on what my schedule will look like, but it will certainly put me in St. Mary’s City, Maryland quite often. William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg will provide a large community of archaeologists to work with, a fabulous campus to explore, and a town that has embraced and celebrates its past fervently. Ashleigh has what looks to be a fantastic job with great opportunities for her as well. We will also be closer to extended family, who live in Maryland, and will have chance to see them more often.

So, in all, I am full of different emotions about this transition. I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m sad. I will be moved for good by August 15th, with Ashleigh leaving to start her new job at the beginning of August. So our near future is full of packing, wrapping up things at work, all while stuffing our faces with as many Jersey Giants, Peanut Barrel Olive Burgers, and Golden Harvest breakfast burritos a possible. Of course, I will be back often to visit family and my dissertation committee, and I will be sure to let people know ahead of time.

Thanks for everything, please stay in touch, and please, please, please come and visit. There’s lots to do in Williamsburg.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Tags: Chesapeake, dissertation, Life, Michigan, Research

Proposal: Done. Field School: Begin.

Terry

– May 27, 2010Posted in: Campus Archaeology Program, Digital Archaeology, Engagement, Public Archaeology

Although it happened a couple of weeks ago, I successfully defended my dissertation proposal, and have been granted with that somewhat sarcastic (and totally unofficial) title of “ABD”, or “All But Dissertation”. The defense went well: my committee nailed me on what I expected to get nailed on (methodology), and didn’t surprise me with anything else. Some questions and suggestions definitely will help to push my project forward, and make it better in the long run. Of course, this will mean more work, but that’s fine. In all, I’m just happy this step is cleared. I will be posting on my research more in the fall, as this summer is going to be largely taken up by Campus Archaeology.

I am co-directing a field school with my boss Dr. Goldstein on campus through the Campus Archaeology Program. This has taken up most of my time during the month of May, and will almost entirely consume June.tbrokc I’ve never been involved with the planning of a field school before, although I’m not surprised with how much work goes into it. The most stressful has been the ordering and receiving of equipment; there are a lot of channels that we need to go through to make sure we are paying for things correctly, getting the correct equipment, and making sure it arrives on time.

I am also working on a special project for the Field School, which is part of my College Teaching Certification. It is my mentored teaching project, and it will be using a class blog as a means for teaching students to engage with the community about our research through blogging. I’m still ironing out details, but the main objective is to encourage students to interact with the community, and to gain a greater understanding about what they are doing in the field by explaining it to other people and applying it at a level beyond the actual field methods. We are also releasing this blog to the public, so that they can interact with the students and their posts. If you are interested, please visit and subscribe to the RSS feed.

The prospect of an on-campus field school is pretty exciting. It makes a field school accessible to a number of students who may find it economically impossible to attend a field school otherwise. Often, these schools require that students are able to take off 6 weeks of their summer and travel to a remote location. Many students can’t afford to give up that much time without working, and to toss 6 credits of tuition on top of it doesn’t help. The on-campus field school only requires 7 hours a day. Students can work part-time jobs, keep their apartment, live on campus, or sublet from someone. There are a number of cost-cutting options that make this a more economical choice, and therefore a really great thing for our department to be doing.

In any event, over the next month I will be out in the field. I may be able to get a post or two up in the meantime (there are a few other things that have been happening in my life of relevance), but mostly my posts will be at the Campus Archaeology Blog, discussing our findings in the field. Follow along!

Popularity: 19% [?]

Tags: Archaeology, Campus Archaeology, Digital Media, dissertation, Engagement