"What Catalog System Do You Use?" Confronting the Philosophies that Prevent Standardization and Consensus in Archaeological Catalogs

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled ""What Catalog System Do You Use?" Confronting the Philosophies that Prevent Standardization and Consensus in Archaeological Catalogs," at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

One of the questions that comes up frequently in sessions, roundtables, and workshops sponsored by the SHA Curation and Collections Committee is, "What catalog system do you use?" The resulting conversations typically cover dissatisfaction with different databases, disagreements about terminology, and the frustration caused by different repositories requiring completely different systems. This forum will unpack the philosophies behind archaeological catalogs by examining the expectations of different stakeholders. Some projects seek catalogs useful as analytical research tools full of details. CRM firms might want catalogs that streamline report writing. Repositories need collections management inventories that promote accessibility. It is therefore not surprising that the discipline still has not settled on a single "one size fits all" system that meets these disparate needs. Panelists working with catalogs from across the spectrum will start the conversation, and consider how the digital age may help in the quest for consensus.