Employing social media to bring a new buzz to archaeological computing

International delegates at this month’s Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA2012) conference at Southampton (26-29 March) will be encouraged to use a wide range of social media applications to make the most of the event. Up to 500 people involved in archaeology from academics across the disciplines including computer science and engineering to museum staff and commercial partners will be heading to the University of Southampton to discover and discuss the latest technological techniques to bring the past to life.

Southampton’s Archaeological Computing Research Group is at the forefront of these developments; many projects are underway on everything from Roman landscapes and artefacts to Winchester Cathedral. As well as attending sessions, displaying posters and visiting some of the south’s ancient sites, conference delegates will be encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions through dedicated Facebook sites and Twitter feeds. QR tags on badges, scannable by smartphones, will enable people to find out more about colleagues’ research. New tools such as the digital pinboard Pinterest will also be trialled.

Links

http://caaconference.org/caa2012/events/smileproject/