For the first time in its, albeit brief, history, this issue has been put together under the guidance of two editors. We've laughed, we've cried, we've sometimes disagreed and thrown things, but the experience has been a wholeheartedly fulfilling one, one which we feel epitomises the spirit of the journal as a whole. We've had the biggest editorial team yet, drawing on the whole range of research students here at Sheffield: environmentalists have worked with landscape students, and even the most 'dyed in the wool' scientists have tried their hand at a spot of copy-editing. We believe that this has fostered a strong sense of group identity, giving people a voice and a place within the department. Such a sense of cohesion is proving increasingly important as both the University of Sheffield and the higher education system in Britain as a whole comes under threat as a result of financial and ideological constraints imposed from above. The situation within the archaeological research community is by no means unique and similar concerns have been, and continue to be, voiced by unit archaeologists, freelance specialists and institutions. The 'new dawn' of a new government has yet to fulfil its promises. In such light, providing a forum in which students, lecturers, field workers and those responsible for decisions at a national level can meet through their writing is vitally important. We hope that this issue of assemblage has provided a platform on which they have been able to do just that.

Two of those involved in the development of Internet Archaeology, Barry Cunliffe and Peter Brown, have suggested in a recent letter to Current Archaeology magazine, that "it is expensive to prepare material for electronic publication (guaranteeing high quality refereeing and editing, as well as presentation)." assemblage is run on a shoestring budget, through the goodwill, hardwork and enthusiasm of the graduate community here at Sheffield. We believe that not only is it possible to design a quality Internet journal without spending a lot of money (see Steven Harnad's convincing demolition of the myth that quality e–publishing equals expensive), but that the skills we have gained in the process will prove invaluable given the increasingly insecure nature of archaeological employment in Britain. Sadly, it seems that being good at your research is no longer good enough...but if anything, our brief stint as editors has convinced us that archaeologists must move between theory and practice, research and fieldwork, if the discipline of archaeology is to be considered of relevance in the next millennium.

We launch this issue just before Christmas 1997 in a spirit of relieved exhaustion -- it's been fun!

Have a great New Year!

Melanie Giles and Emma Wager.

© Mel Giles and Emma Wager 1997

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