[During the Copper Age] it was the southeast of Europe and the Balkans which were the centres of innovation. The problem, and it’s a big one, is accessing that information....Unfortunately [archaeologists] haven’t really got to grips with the web yet. In terms of easily accessible information, the Balkans are sorely lacking.
Archaeological material is hidden behind subscriptions. In my case my paper on Delphi will cost you £15, or over twice the cost of the Complete Works of Shakespeare. I don’t want to put you off, it’s amazing, but twice as good as Shakespeare? I did think the idea of archaeologists being exclusionary was paranoia, but if you look at the sheer cost of recently published material, then unintentionally or not the costs are a very effective barrier to learning. What you’re left with is a bunch of experts who are asking people to examine the evidence, use a critical mind and if you want to examine them be prepared to pay sacrifice a major bodily organ to a shady transplant surgeon to pay for the privilege.
From the inside it’s laughable to think that archaeology is about money or power, but if people will publish their work in books like this (£230 is about $430, but you can save $100 ordering from Amazon US), then it’s clear that someone is making money....
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
