Although on face value, museum collections are largely perceived as static entities hidden away in storerooms or trapped behind glass cases, new research shows that over time and across space interactions between objects and a wide range of people have generated a complex assemblage of material and social networks. Based on a broad collection of source materials, studies examining the people who made, sold, traded, studied, catalogued, exhibited and connected with objects reveal a dynamic set of material and social agencies that have been instrumental in creating, shaping and reworking museum collections. By integrating and reworking theories about agency and materiality and by drawing on insights from Actor-Network Theory, contributors to this volume have uncovered new ways to think about relationships formed between objects and individuals and among diverse groups spread across the globe. The research also demonstrates that ethnographic collections continue to play important roles in supporting and reworking national identities as well as to challenge these through ongoing negotiations and sharing of ideas among both the guardians of these objects and their creator communities. These insights have important implications for designing curatorial practices in the future.
A recent re‐survey of the archaeological sites at Lake Condah and adjoining properties has called into question the way in which this landscape has been archaeologically interpreted. There are two components to the discussion. The first concerns the language of the archaeology of the stony rises and the meanings embedded in archaeological texts by the use of particular sets of terms to describe the cultural features of the landscape. The second is that of site formation and landscape processes. Because earlier surveys did not take into account the complexity of landscape processes which make it difficult to clearly distinguish between cultural and natural features, the process of archaeological interpretation has created a mythical cultural landscape not supported by the available evidence. The sites of Lake Condah and the surrounding properties have become mythologised within two domains — in the archaeological literature, and as a consequence, in the realm of public knowledge and awareness. The resultant romancing of the stones neither provides an explanation of the regional prehistory based on clearly demonstrated archaeological associations nor does it encourage the implementation of sound management strategies based on well‐founded archaeological data.
Clinical neurophysiology is the medical specialty in the UK responsible for training doctors in the interpretation of electroencephalograms (EEGs). At present it is difficult to recruit doctors to train in clinical neurophysiology which causes difficulty in delivering services. We established a tele-EEG service to record and report on EEGs at a UK hospital which was unable to attract a resident clinical neurophysiologist. The EEGs were recorded in digital format and placed on a web server to be read by a clinical neurophysiologist in another part of the UK. Where possible this was done using NHS web servers and email, but a back-up system was established using other systems with suitable encryption. A total of 1007 EEGs were reported in 13 months from patients of all ages, epilepsy being the commonest reason for referral. All cases were reported within 24 h of recording. The back-up system was used in 60 cases. Tele-EEG is a feasible, secure, timely and effective method of providing an EEG service to hospitals which cannot recruit a resident clinical neurophysiologist.
Summary Excavations at Newton have revealed three phases of land use. Mesolithic activity was restricted to small flint working and domestic sites. A Neolithic phase appears to relate to a fragile soil resource which rapidly declined in quality. The final phase, possibly related to a Christian Irish presence on the island, occurs late in the sequence.
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