Lofts Farm - Notebook Introduction
The system of recording in Lofts Farm notebooks evolved quite quickly to a system which has been maintained ever since.
Every context is given a number according to the field that it relates too e.g. LFG 33 is context 33 from Lofts Farm field 'G'. Context numbers start from 1 but sometimes sequences were restarted at a particular '100' to help distinguish phases of work.
A context is defined as any item which requires specific mention in the notebooks. Any feature, feature layer, feature section, find, group of finds, could be allocated a unique Context number. At the beginning of the Project separate number sequences were allocated to 'small' finds and feature sections but this was found to be unnecessarily confusing and prone to errors.
Context IndexingAll context numbers are recorded in sequence at the back of each notebook. They are allocated in order starting on the last page and moving forward. Along with each context number is a short description and reference to the page number in the notebook where the context is first recorded and often shown in a sketch plan in relation to other features. If this feature (context) is mentioned again in the notes, perhaps on a later date, then extra page number references were often added to the rear index. This method of referencing has also been applied to the current Html versions - The top-level notebook index is linked to the Context Index, which is 'hot-spot' linked back to the appropriate main pages. From any main page it is possible to step back or forward in the notebook.
Main Notebook/DiaryThe main notebook contents are written in diary form – with a left margin and the date to head each entry. It is hoped that the scanned text will at some time be supplemented with searchable plain text.
Paul N Brown – September 2004
