The purpose of the Preservation Today netcast, podcast and accompanying website is to help inspire the advancement of heritage values in our society using the new form of communication called social media. We produce a video news program called Preservation Today. You are currently on our shownotes website and blog that incorporates frequently updated news from online sources. The program looks like a television news broadcast but is based on the new way people people like to get their information, relating to their intellect and interests rather than appealing to the lowest common denominator and peppered with shock value. In short, its a show about ideas. With Preservation Today, you will find a new type of journalism using the heritage preservation community as its focus. It retains the news gathering techniques and production values of traditional media as familiarized by six oclock television news programs across the country. But it also integrates social media tools to help viewers understand how to communicate heritage values in the new Web 2.0 world. http://www.preseervationtoday.com

Funny what you find under the surface of a Manchester car park. A short film recording the day's find at an archaeological dig in Northenden. This is a fairly simple film with interview and overlay shots. Produced by community groups and other amateur film-makers on training projects run over by Steve over the last couple of years http://www.youtube.com/user/VideoJournalists

Public Archaeology Facility's Community Archaeology Program conducts a walkover survey at an site

Based on an article talking about the archaeological community complaining Indy was inaccurate. Thanks and Credit ( http://www.petercoffin.com/ )

We all know that archaeologists dig up artifacts, but what happens to them after that? This video chronicles the journey of one artifact from excavation to curation. The Florida Public Archaeology Network aims to educate the public about archaeological sites in their community and assist local and county governments in managing their cultural resources. For more information see http://flpublicarchaeology.org

Join Archaeologist and Presenter James Balme at the Middlewich Community Excavation that took place just off King Street near to Harbutt's field in 2005.Evidence and artefacts from the Roman settlement were uncovered as well as pits and a Roman road surface. Even Roman cremations were uncovered. This excerpt is taken from the official documentary ' The Normans at Middlewich ' written and produced by James Balme

The March edition of Past Horizons Magazine is now out. The magazine features articles on field school opportunities and how to make archeology accessible to the disabled. According to its publishers, the goal of Past Horizons is to give everyone a voice in heritage. In addition to the magazine, Past Horizons Heritage Media features a blog on archeological discovery and a YouTube-style video sharing service. Past Horizons is based in Scotland. The U.S.-based National Trust for Historic Preservation is developing a new online community. According to the Trust, this new community is designed to ignite interest in places rich with heritage, history and culture. The site will allow participants to interact around the heritage of town’s and cities, allowing vacationers to quote Travel With Purpose. The Trust is now holding a pre-launch recognition program that offers special benefits to those who sign up for the site now. Participants will have the opportunity to share travel experiences through reviews and ratings and photographs. The community will be a part of the National Trust’s subsidiary, Heritage Travel Incorporated. The Trust is also using Facebook to raise funds for its rebuilding effort in the Gulf Coast. Facebook’s new marketplace feature is launching an initiative called “Celebrities Selling for a Cause.” Actress Jennifer Coolidge is selling a custom-made dress she wore when starring in the film Legally Blonde 2 and donating the proceeds to benefit the National Trust’s “Rebuilding New Orleans” project. You don’t have to be a celebrity to participate. Anyone can buy an item or sell one on behalf of the National Trust and all the proceeds will go toward our efforts along the Gulf Coast. The Smithsonian Institution recently held a two-day gathering exploring how to make the organization’s collections, educational resources, and staff more accessible, engaging, and useful in the digital age. The event, called Smithsonian 2.0, brought together professionals from the web and new media world to meet with Smithsonian staff members. Together, they worked to envision generate what a digital Smithsonian might be like in the years ahead. Speakers included representatives from Facebook, Myspace and Microsoft. Professionals in the museum field are welcoming the Smithsonian’s interest in social media. The event was the brianchild of G. Wayne Clough, who became the Smithsonian’s new secretary in July. According to Clough, the Smithsonian intends to aggressively pursue a participatory web-based presence following the conference. The UNESCO office in Lima, Peru is seeking international specialists to aid in the development of heritage site management plans for the Pachacamac archeological complex and the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nazca and Pampas de Jumana. The heritage plans would include establishing priorities for halting site deterioration, reviving building and land use techniques, and raising community awareness about the historical and cultural meaning and importance of both sites. The project is being conducted in agreement with the National Institute of Culture of Peru. The Obama administration recently unveiled the new Whitehouse.gov website. According to Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House, the new site is being built on the social media principles of communication, transparency and participation. Among the site features so far are a blog, a comment form and a briefing room. Obama, who currently has four and a half million Facebook friends, used social media extensively during his campaign for the presidency. And finally, Preservation Today now has its own Friendfeed room. The room will allow fast-paced discussions on the latest in heritage preservation. Sign-up is quick, easy and free. All you have to do is visit our shownotes site at preservation today dot com and click the “News Stream” link at the top of the page.

A short documentary on the use of Surveying on an archaeological site. Shot at the Summer 2008 Community Archaeology Program

Learn more here: the Public Archaeology Facility (PAF)

A short film documenting digging an unit on an Archaeological site. Shot at the Summer 2008 Community Archaeology Program.

Learn more here: the Public Archaeology Facility (PAF)

In 2005 a community excavation took place in the town of Middlewich to locate and investigate Roman activity and remains that lay in the earth just off King Street. The project was part of the 2005 Middlewich Roman Festival and was a great success in many ways and for many reasons. Archaeologist and Historian James Balme was commissioned to record on video the excavations as part of his wider remit to capture the forthcoming Middlewich Roman Festival. This film is a short compilation taken from the footage shot at the archaeological site during the investigations that took place.

The mosaic is the product of a community project initiated by the Colchester Archaeological Trust and made possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The discovery of the Roman chariot racing track at Abbey Fields, Colchester, in late 2004 provided the inspiration for the project. The mosaic shows a chariot race in progress featuring eight quadrigae -- four-horse chariots. The artwork was created by artist Peter Froste who based his design on a type of Roman mosaic pavement which depicts a bird's eye view of a chariot race in a circus. Over 1500 children helped make the pavement, using more than 200,000 tiles to complete the work. The full-sized mosaic was unveiled on 19th January 2008, in appalling weather conditions, by Griff Rhys-Jones. An exhibition in the nearby former Garrison Riding School included finds from excavations in the area of the Circus itself, a replica racing chariot made for Channel 4's 'Time Team' special and companion mosaics made by students of a local school. http://uk.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=james9149

The Damhead Community Council asked me to help locate a lost 13th century chapel, so I called in teh Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society, and got to work... even pulled in the BBC.. Well... when templars and holy grails are to be found.. it is better to look for this instead! Did we find it in 6 hours! Eat yer heart out Time team and 3 days!