Childs Terry S.Sullivan Lynne P. - Curating Archaeological Collections

N o book is solely the product of its authors, and this one is no exception. We cant possibly thank everyone individually, but we wish to recognize several persons for their help and for their tolerance of this project. First, we thank Bill Green and Larry Zimmerman for inviting us to participate in the Toolkit series. We appreciate Bills patient editorial work that helped make our manuscript more readable. We also thank Mitch Allen at AltaMira Press for his comments and for keeping the series on track, and we thank the members of the production staff at AltaMira Press for turning our computer files and stacks of paper into an actual book.

Several people read sections of our draft manuscript and provided useful information and helpful suggestions, including Harriet Beaubien, Cindy Stankowski, and Eileen Corcoran. Discussions at the National Archaeological Collections Management Conference in San Diego and with members of the Society for American Archaeologys new Committee on Curation also provided needed feedback on ideas as well as confirmed the widespread nature of curatorial problems and the many permutations.

Jeff Chapman and the staff of the McClung Museum patiently tolerated Lynnes time spent on the manuscript in the midst of developing major new exhibits on Tennessee archaeology. Lindsay Kromer, photographer at the McClung Museum, provided us with the photos, and Jennifer Barber, graduate assistant, helped with proofreading. Terry attributes her extensive exposure to and involvement with federal curation to the guiding interest of Frank McManamon and Veletta Canouts in the National Park Services Archeology and Ethnography Program, where she works by day.

We also thank our many teachers of the value of curation and curated collectionsincluding some archaeologists we never personally met who kept meticulous records and well-organized materials. We also learned from those at the other end of the spectrum, but we prefer to thank those who provided the positive experiences!

Our colleagues fully in the museum world also deserve thanks for putting up with the somewhat warped perspectives of two archaeologists who know enough about collections care (especially conservation) to be dangerous.

Last but not least, we thank you, the reader, for wanting to learn about archaeological curation. The more people who care enough to learn about this topic, the more likely it is that archaeological collections will receive the care they need to be useful to future generations.