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8 Representation of the Archive: New as Old

The representation of old data transformed into new data in general enhances the archive. However, it is the author's opinion that consideration for the practice of archaeology and the methods of data collection should not be distorted in order to make the archives more appealing. This is illustrated in a positive light by several of the ARENA archives. The Biskupin archive does not detract from the original content of the paper archive or the methods of data collection used. The online archive is inherently visual with a series of scanned photographs, notes, correspondence, publication and documents. Similarly, the presentation of the Norwegian archive Egge and Hegee gives a spatial route into the documents and text digitised as part of The Museum Project and in the original format of the catalogue. As discussed above, the Norwegian archive interface takes a landscape perspective to enhance the usability of the data. The same applies to the other ARENA archives, which are presented as they were originally intended. There may be a dilemma here for other archives – how to present them in a format that does not detract from their original intention, since to do so might be seen as manipulation beyond the limits of the data and therefore misrepresenting the work that was carried out. The online archive should perhaps be presented in a form similar to the original and uses simple presentation methods to allow greater access to the relevant information, perhaps through the use of catalogues or news items referring users to the relevant content.


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