Page 236 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

implies that they need to be written in hard-copy as well, although the project-director may want them to be entered into a computer at the end of the day. Other forms, such as drawing-sheets, photo-sheets, measuring sheets, feature-sheets, find- and sample- lists, artefact-sheets or timber-sheets, as the case may be, may directly be entered into a computer, for ease of backup and cross-referencing. But that, of course, depends very much on the situation. Backups only work if several computers or a connection to the internet are available on the working platform or at base. Computers do not do well in small boats or with wet fingers, and are even less useful when they fall overboard.
It is not only computers that risk getting wet and washed out. Underwater operations as a whole are particularly prone to all sorts of mishaps and interruptions and to the vagaries of weather and sea state. Documentation should be organized accordingly. An experienced underwater archaeo- logist is known for his dictum ‘each day one should document as if there is no other day’. It can be very tempting to postpone finishing after a busy shift. However, it is good practice to round off all documentation, including a daily summary before finishing the day, even if that means working late at night.
Technological advances
In the diving industry other than recreational diving, there is a tendency to limit the amount of time spent under water to an absolute minimum, whatever the depth may be. Remotely Operated Vehicles with cameras and documenting equipment, and tracking devices for adequate measuring have replaced divers in many construction jobs, reducing their presence to assessments and complicated operations where their intelligence is needed, or to simple tasks where the diver is nevertheless more efficient. The technology employed generally calls for extensive investments or high leasing rates. But if a few days of expensive equipment rental can win several months of toiling by inefficient scuba – divers it is still the more efficient option. Miniaturization of
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Documentation