Moving a Monster, Part Two: Preserving Illinois’ Cultural History in Perpetuity

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

As a result of moving its ~24,000 ft3 Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) collections to a more suitable facility, the Illinois State Archaeological Survey’s Curation Section is now more capable of addressing the present and future needs of the collections and its users. This paper details the move’s success and our ongoing efforts to create more accessible research opportunities by revolutionizing the care of all ISAS-held collections. These efforts include updating the procedural flow from lab processing to transfers and loans, creating and utilizing a comprehensive relational database for material and documents, and stabilizing legacy collections. This work not only facilitates academic research, but allows for more successful consultation with our Tribal partners. We intend for our work in moving the IDOT collections to serve as a model for other institutions to move and improve monsters of their own.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40170.0