Archaeology is the study of past cultures to determine how people lived, based on the things they have left behind. It’s an extremely complicated field of study that requires meticulous records to be kept. However, archaeologists love digging through ruins – not files.
Archaeological expeditions can go on for months at a time and are often conducted in places with very few “creature comforts.” They usually set up tents to live in while they conduct their research.
That’s second nature to the dedicated people who conduct these studies because they’re determined to learn as much as possible about history from what they find. It’s vital they record their findings so a bigger picture can be created about how ancient civilizations lived.
Archaeology can be an exciting field of study, especially when discovering some new specimen or piece of information that reveals something about history that hasn’t been discovered yet. However, it can also be very tedious.
Many different pieces of equipment are used in such work. Some of the more primitive tools include: shovels, hammers, sieves, compasses, picks, tape measures, trowels, buckets, magnifying glasses and tiny instruments such as dental picks, toothbrushes and scalpels.
More modern equipment is also used. They include: large excavating machinery and dump trucks, tripods, flotation devices, computers and laptops. As scientific advances are made, more precise equipment becomes available to assist in studies that may previously have been impossible to accomplish.
Recording all findings during an expedition is the most critical part of an archaeologist’s job. Every single individual piece of information has to be meticulously recorded as soon as it’s discovered.
They use the knowledge gleaned from each specimen to help guide them in their research. If they left the “filing” or documenting of each find until later, it wouldn’t be as accurate and they probably wouldn’t be following the correct path as dictated by their findings.
However, thanks to computerized technology, it’s now possible to create a vastly improved, user-friendly filing system to record all information gathered during expeditions. Instead of only relying on paper-based record keeping, it’s now easy to create very “flexible files.” These files can contain samples, photographs, test results, written reports, forensic analysis reports and every other possible form of “file/sample” that’s created at any time. Then enter the information for each of these items into Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System. Paper Tiger has a very powerful and easy-to-use search engine built in so you use the power of the computer to simply conduct a google-like search in the database to quickly and easily find/share the information when you need it.
There may be times when archaeologists need to access information from other expeditions or from their own previous ones. If they’ve already implemented efficient document management software, they can access files from anywhere via their laptop, even while out on a dig.
This can save a lot of time and money, because they don’t necessarily have to transport physical files with them when they go on expeditions. They can simply add whatever new material they discover to existing files or create new ones when they return to their home base.
Once they’ve finished an excavation, they can’t go back. Therefore each step must be done properly as they go. Even though archaeologists prefer to study rather than record the information, they know how vital record keeping is to their overall work.
Thanks to current technology and smart document management software, many tasks can be achieved in less time and at a cheaper cost. This enables more research to be carried out without incurring extra costs.
This specialized document management system can be tailor-made for archaeologists. They don’t have to simply use alphabetical or numerical file names. They can choose categories and sub-categories that accurately reflect the file contents. It’s also very easy to cross-reference documents and files so that information stored in different files or even in different places can be easily located when necessary.
Archaeologists love digging through ruins – not files. If they didn’t have to do any record keeping, they would probably be very happy. Because it’s an inevitable part of their work, they should implement the best document management software system available. Then they can reduce costs and decrease the amount of time spent on such tedious tasks, so they have more time to discover what else there is to learn.
Tags: document management software, The Paper Tiger 'Finding' Filing System
