A museum curator called my excavation notes 'useless' and it stung

I was working a dig in Santa Fe last summer, documenting a Puebloan site. My field notes were full of personal guesses and messy sketches. The lead curator from the local museum reviewed them and said, 'This is useless for future researchers. I can't tell what you actually saw versus what you think.' It was harsh, but right. I switched to a strict system: one notebook for pure observations with measurements and photos, and a separate log for my theories. My documentation got way clearer in just two weeks. Has anyone else had to totally rebuild their note-taking method after tough feedback?

3 comments

3 Comments

bennett.finley2mo ago

Read a blog post once where an archaeologist called their messy field notebook a "brain dump" and kept a clean one for the official record. Your two notebook system sounds just like that, and it's a really smart way to work. That feedback must have been rough to hear, but it clearly helped you level up.

troy_bennett902mo ago

My buddy's boss told him his notes were useless, so he started doing that two-book thing too.

hollyc922mo ago

That's a great way to handle it. It turns messy first drafts into something actually useful for other people. My own notes were a mess until I split them into quick ideas and a polished version. It saves so much time later.