WEBSITE / EVALUATION / Comparative / 193-br.htm
1: C. Chaves Yates, December 2011
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This style of website is by far the most common and usually includes a cursory introduction to the site, the research and the people who work there. Of the websites visited and catalogued during Summer and Fall 2011, approximately 36% could be categorized as Brochure style. These websites, however, likely represent a much larger percentage of the total of archaeological websites as the survey was primarily focused on analytical websites and the Near East in particular. A list of brochure sites can be located in the Appendix. Some websites are more in-depth than other with overviews of different research interests, or excavation areas, sometimes including surveys, maps and videos but in all cases the information is introductory or at a non-academic level. The quality of the websites in this category is extremely variable. Some websites are little more than printed text that has not been recently updated . Others are more sophisticated with flashy graphics, but still do not offer much information. Some of the websites are designed quite literally "brochures", extolling the virtues of a particular excavation, often while soliciting (presumably paying) volunteers. This is especially common in Israel (e.g. Zeitah, Tell es Safi, Tiberias ). The primary purpose of the brochure type is simply to create a web presence for a project, focusing on outlining the important aspects of the project and often highlighting who to contact for more information. The proliferation of free hosting space combined with the widespread availability user-friendly website creation programs has made it easier for researchers to create websites, increasing the quantity of individual websites for archaeological sites. |