27 Jul Preserved for the Future

I have to admit that moving from North Carolina all the way out to Colorado, I was pretty scared. As this internship progressed, I have had nothing but positive experiences. But eventually, we have to return to the office and put all the hard work we have done in the field together. The photos we take, the data we take on the GPS, and the documents we fill how to record the sites all must be updated to the computers database. This allows for both the park and the state to be kept up to date on what has already been recorded. It also safeguards the information both by paper and digitally in case one or the other is lost. This week I spent a lot of time updating that database. I entered the photos onto the forms digitally as well as transferred information over to the computer from the site documents. It is pretty time consuming but it is important that these tasks get done. It allows for people in the future who come to work in the Colorado National Monument to be able to look back at the condition of the site as well as the types of artifacts/features that were present during our time, whether they check on the site in 10 years or another 50. Although it is not the most exciting thing to do compared to being out in the filed surveying for new things. I find this task to be just as important! What good would gathering all the information be if we didn’t preserve it for future generations. It is important that we keep record of these sites and artifacts so that others have the opportunity to learn about them as well!