A DIGITAL FUTURE: MULTIPLE INITIATIVES LAUNCHED BY THE COTSEN INSTITUTE BY SHAUNA K. MECARTEA
THE COTSEN INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY (CIOA) PUBLICATIONS OFFICE is pleased to announce the continuation and launch of several digital initiatives throughout 2009 in an effort to further the dissemination of archaeology at UCLA and beyond. In October of 2008, the Publications Office launched a newly designed web site for the Cotsen Institute. This web site embodies the Cotsen Institute’s new brand, which incorporates the new UCLA identity and reflects the Institute’s mission and vision. As part of a larger Institute project called the Communications Initiative, which began in the summer of 2007, the new web site was complemented with updated print promotional material. Special features on the web site include a Flashdriven home-page highlight; RSS subscriptions to our News, Events, and Publications feeds; multimedia resources such as podcasts and streaming videos; iCal and vCal downloads for events; and more. The web site also hosts an Interactive Research Map, which highlights Cotsen Institute research projects, field programs, and internships on an interactive global map. In addition, Cotsen Institute donors and friends can now contribute to the Institute and join Friends of Archaeology online. The Publications Office is proud to have participated in this project, which was generously supported by Cotsen Institute Director Charles Stanish and the Administration Office, and hope that the new Cotsen Institute brand reflects the dynamic environment that is CIOA. In an effort to produce innovative digital publications, the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press (formerly the Publications Unit) launched its eScholarship repository account online in November of 2008. The repository is a service of the eScholarship initiative of the California Digital Library, and is an open-access publishing platform that offers UC departments, centers, and research units direct control over the creation and dissemination of the full range of their scholarship—including journals and peer-reviewed series, postprints, and seminar papers. These materials are freely available to the public online. Through our online branded account, eScholarship will host the newly established Cotsen Digital Archaeology (CDA) series. The CDA series presents the results of original archaeological and conserva102 | Backdirt 2009
tion research through digitally initiated and accessible publications that integrate innovative multimedia and data links. The series is made available through eScholarship at no cost to consumers. All digital publications will be available in print format for a fee through print-on-demand services. Several pilot publications are in production and will be available beginning 2010. Ellen Pearlstein, Assistant Professor of Information Science and Conservation Program faculty member, is editing the first publication in this series. In addition to the CDA series, Cotsen Institute Press will offer postprints of previously published titles on our eScholarship account. (Our Cotsen Institute Press repository account can be visited at http://repositories.cdlib.org/cioa.) eScholarship provides alternative publication services online for the UC community, supports widespread distribution of the materials that result from research and teaching at UC, and fosters new models of scholarly publishing through development and application of advanced technologies. Cotsen Institute Press is proud to be participating in this publishing program, and looks forward to producing the first volume in the new digital series. Last, as part of the marketing of the UCLA Field Archaeology Program the Publications Office collaborated with University Communications to launch a video and text blog on the UCLA Magazine web site. The video and text blog highlight the unique experiences of the participants of the Fayum Field School in Egypt as they learn about archaeological method and theory in the field. The project—codirected by Willeke Wendrich, Associate Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures—has received extensive press due to it being the first archaeological field program in Egypt to allow U.S. undergraduates to participate. The episode installments for the video blog, edited by the Publications Office, can be viewed on the Cotsen Institute web site at www.ioa.ucla.edu/multimedia-resources or on our Playlist on UCLA’s YouTube channel. The multimedia and digital initiatives launched by the Cotsen Institute mark a new era and an innovative way of engaging with and informing the public and other scholars about recent archaeological research and programs offered by the Cotsen Institute.