Lost in information? Ways of knowing and modes of representation in e-archaeology.

This paper is concerned with the development of new cyberinfrastructures which are being constructed on the foundations of Web 2.0 looking forward to Web 3.0, employing semantic techniques for modelling archaeological information in order to enhance the location, retrieval and use of data. It argues that, as these techniques emerge, it is important to consider their origins, their underlying models and their consequent effects on the subject. Representations of archaeological information are predicated upon new and existing data standards and constitute additional layering or nesting of standards within each other. The paper identifies the need for an ethnographic study of the creation of these new technologies since they present the potential for radical change within the subject but presently lack proper evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]