SAS Bulletin

Volume 20   Number 1/2   January /June 1997


Vice-Presidents' Annual Reports 1996-97

 

Vice President for Inter-society Relations

    The 1996/1997 year brought a new direction for the Inter-Society Relations committee. In concert with Arleyn Simon and the Membership Committee, we have begun the planning stages for more intensive contact with other organizations to encourage membership, and internet/web based outreach with the SAS Web master. The first step was an internet mailing to the International Association for Obsidian Studies (IAOS) membership pointing to the number of obsidian studies articles in JAS and the reduction in price to full SAS members. This included a letter to the current President, Jon Ericson.
    Along this line, IAOS is planning to present a workshop at the 1998 SAA meetings in Seattle focusing on archaeological obsidian studies for archaeologists. In the above letter I noted that a number of SAS members will probably be participating, and cross-advertising between the organizations, as well as sponsorship may be mutually beneficial. I have yet to receive an answer, but will be following up shortly.
    I continue to send our meeting dates to various newsletters, but am surprised to see how few actually list it. I will continue to do so, and persistence will eventually pay.
    Probably most important, is the proposal by my lab, the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, in association with SAS, to host the 2000 Archaeometry Symposium at Berkeley. The lab and particularly the museum frequently host conferences of the size typical of the Archaeometry Symposium, and the campus and Bay Area are a particularly pleasant and functional area for this type of conference. Mexico City and Beijing have also tenured proposals, but we are confident ours will be given serious consideration. The lab, the Archaeological Research Facility, and museum recently brought Mike Tite, the standing committee chair, to Berkeley to show off the facilities. We hope that he was impressed. As usual, any member that has inter-society type news, please forward it, and I'll act on it appropriately.

M. Steven Shackley
shackley@qal.Berkeley.EDU


Vice President for  Membership Development

SAS Seeks To Renew and Add New Members Join our quest to understand the past, using the tools of tomorrow!
   The Society for Archaeological Sciences is launching a membership campaign to build the society for the next century. In the most recent SAS Bulletin, SAS President Rob Sternberg emphasized that SAS members share the common goal of encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation among scientists in archaeology and in the physical and natural sciences. SAS members represent an international cross-section of disciplines including anthropology, biology, botany, chemistry, classics, geochemistry, geochronology, geography, geology, metallurgy, and zoology. Approximately 25% of the membership is non-North American and we want to continue this growth of SAS as a truly international archaeometric community.
   The Society for Archaeological Sciences strives to highlight the contributions of archaeometry to archaeological research and education. Through its activities, SAS endeavors to enhance funding and research opportunities for interdisciplinary archaeometric research. The Society is instrumental in the publication of the refereed series: Advances in Archaeological and Museum Science (Plenum Press); the sponsorship of conferences and conference sessions that encourage data-sharing within archaeometry and explain those of allied fields; the publication of SAS Bulletin, a substantial, indexed quarterly with research updates, laboratory profiles, conference summaries, book reviews, job announcements, and extensive calendars of meetings.
   One of the best ways we can highlight and promote the contributions of archaeometry to archaeology is by increasing our membership and the corresponding readership of the SAS Bulletin and the Journal of Archaeological Science. The SAS web site (http://www.wisc.edu/anthropology/sas/sas.htm) as well as the moderated discussion group SASnet provide instant access to information on the society, meetings, conferences, and participation and queries into topics of research interest.
   There are currently 354 active SAS members. We believe that membership in SAS will increase and exceed the previous high (of 500+ members) by launching a proactive membership program which will benefit current and new members of the Society. Several steps are included in this program: 1) The SAS executive board has undertaken the reactivation of the SAS Bulletin under the editorship of Rob Tykot; 2) The SASnet and the SAS web site are continuously active and updated by web master Jim Burton; 3) The SAS will have increased visibility at national and international meetings through membership booths in exhibit halls, well advertised general meetings, SAS sponsored symposia; awards for best archaeometric poster and paper by students. The SAS is planning these activities for the upcoming 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, March 25-29, 1998, Seattle, Washington, USA (http://www.saa.org) and the 31st International Symposium on Archaeometry, April 27- May 1, 1998, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, Hungary (http://origo.hnm.hu/ametry98/).
   We are sending a mailing to all SAS members asking them to update their mailing address, email, phone, and fax numbers. These must be regularly updated to ensure that members receive the publications (Bulletin and JAS) and communications (SASnet) to which they are entitled. We are also including new member brochures in this mailing and encourage you to recruit other full members and student members among your colleagues.
Inquiries regarding membership status should be addressed to the Secretary/Treasurer, Felicia Beardsley, Department of Anthropology, University. of California/Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521-0418 USA,
tel 909-787-5524; fax 909-787-5409; e-mail beards@citrus.ucr.edu

Arleyn W. Simon
arleyn.simon@asu.edu


Report from the Web manager/VP for Electronic Communications

SASnet:
    In contrast to the explosively exponential growth of the Internet this year, SASnet has increased its subscriber base slowly and steadily, from approximately 100 subscribers at the beginning of 1996 to an easily-managed, moderately-sized list of 437 by June 1997. This is partly the result of the new open-door policy, intended to increase interaction between archaeometrists and those not trained in physical sciences but who need access to archaeometric expertise and to increase the visibility of the SAS among those who are not currently members. The average number of messages has increased accordingly from approximately 6 messages a month to nearly two dozen per month...still a relatively quiet list for it's size. To avoid typical list problems such as "spams" and "flame wars", SASnet was configured as a moderated list. Fortunately I have not ever had to decline posting any message because it was abusive or inflammatory. SASnet has remained a most civil and informative list that has been a real pleasure to manage - kudos to the current subscribers!
SASweb:
    The SAS now has a home on the Internet (http://www.wisc.edu/anthropology/sas/sas.htm) through the courtesy of the University of Wisconsin's Department of Anthropology. Web pages, on-line since April 1996, include society information, Bulletin contents, email addresses of the SAS membership, and extensive links to archaeometric facilities, publications, meetings, and other resources. Visitors to the SAS home pages have slowly increased from approximately 100/month in May 1996 to about 360/month in May 1997. A majority of these visitors are from the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, but a significant percentage each month, usually in the lower double digits, are from other countries in Europe, South America, Australia and Asia. The most popular document, by far, is the compilation of abstracts from the 1996 International Archaeometry Conference. Suggestions for additional content, including relevant on-line links, are invited.

James Burton
jhburton@facstaff.wisc.edu



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