Personas - Sarah

         I am keen to learn about experimental archaeology in practice, and how to build on previous experiments.

Currently studying for a Masters in experimental archaeology. Volunteers at an open-air museum near her university during the summer. Some practical craft knowledge. Enjoys the science aspect of experimental archaeology. Likes to learn more about the day-to-day running of open-air museums.

Sarah wants to gain practical experience in a museum context to supplement her academic studies. Sarah loves the scientific side of experimental archaeology and wants to progress her understanding of scientific methods. Sarah enjoys working with experts in the field and the networking opportunities.

Sarah works under supervision and helps mostly with documentation and archiving for a set project. For her dissertation, she is carrying out a reconstruction of small storage building with the support of the museum.

Sarah works on the office desktop, her own laptop, or with pen and paper when outdoors.

Since she only as a few weeks to work in the museum, Sarah regrets having to spend so much time learning the procedures and systems. A lot of material she is working with seems out of date and not too relevant to her studies. Although the museum is supportive of her experiments, it can feel like the work is happening without a larger context.

Sarah needs a way of learning the archiving system quickly so that she can make a contribution in a short time. She needs a way of finding out about previous archaeological experiments to build upon in her research. She needs an effective way of sharing her research for herself and the museum so that her findings are useful and recognised.