The SAA is an international organization that aims to,
"stimulate interest and research in American archaeology; advocated and aid in the conservation of archaeological resources; encourage public access to and appreciation of archaeology; oppose all looting of sites and the purchase and sale of looted archaeological materials; and serve as a bond among those interested in the archaeology of the Americas."
For a society that strives to "stimulate interest" in archaeology, their website is rather bland. The entire website has a dark/light tan color scheme, and a simple text based layout. It made me think of a state DMV website, which is something that no website should ever want to be compared to. Once I got past the home page, the first tab to click on is "About the Society". After reading this page a couple of times I still don't have a good idea of what the society actually does, and more importantly for the SAA, no idea why I would want to become a member. While I'm sure that they do interesting, relevant work, it's hard to tell by the website.
Although the appearance is uninspiring, there is a hidden gem on saa.org under the "for the public" tab. Clicking on it brings you to a different website filled with clickable items linking you to other sections of the site or sometimes to different sites all together. Navigation is challenging, but the reward is a wide variety of archaeological papers, stories, articles, press releases, and more. One of my favorite features is on the archaeoBus operated by The Society for Georgia Archaeology. The bus is, "a mobile museum and classroom of interactive activities targeting children and adults" and appears to be a very good tool to expose more people to real archaeology.
Another section that particularly impressed me was the "For Archaeologists" tab on the public page. It encourages archaeologists to explore Public Archaeology. While there is no fixed definition for Public Archaeology, it is a push to open up the archaeological process to everyone. Doing so will help people see what archaeologists really do, and generate interest in archaeology.
The overall appearance of saa.org will scare some people away, and possibly create a "boring, uptight, academic" stereotype of archaeology. But the further you dig, the more you will find in this website. The public page has an incredible amount of information available to those who have the patience to find it. If the SAA spent some more time thinking of a creative, more interesting design for their website it would be a very good resource for archaeologists and the public.
Although the appearance is uninspiring, there is a hidden gem on saa.org under the "for the public" tab. Clicking on it brings you to a different website filled with clickable items linking you to other sections of the site or sometimes to different sites all together. Navigation is challenging, but the reward is a wide variety of archaeological papers, stories, articles, press releases, and more. One of my favorite features is on the archaeoBus operated by The Society for Georgia Archaeology. The bus is, "a mobile museum and classroom of interactive activities targeting children and adults" and appears to be a very good tool to expose more people to real archaeology.
Another section that particularly impressed me was the "For Archaeologists" tab on the public page. It encourages archaeologists to explore Public Archaeology. While there is no fixed definition for Public Archaeology, it is a push to open up the archaeological process to everyone. Doing so will help people see what archaeologists really do, and generate interest in archaeology.The overall appearance of saa.org will scare some people away, and possibly create a "boring, uptight, academic" stereotype of archaeology. But the further you dig, the more you will find in this website. The public page has an incredible amount of information available to those who have the patience to find it. If the SAA spent some more time thinking of a creative, more interesting design for their website it would be a very good resource for archaeologists and the public.
For more info. on the archaeo-bus visit: www.thesga.org
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