Members asserted that for practical purposes, all historical publications, even those produced by mass-production techniques designed to minimize deviations from a norm, have unique physical qualities that may have value as a carrier of (physical) evidence in a given research project. This group defined an artifact or primary record as “a physical object produced or used at the particular past time that one is concerned with in a given instance” (MLA 1996). To call attention to the dangers inherent in ignoring the fate of physical collections, the association created a committee to consider the issue. The Modern Language Association (MLA) has been concerned that the technologies of reproduction, such as photocopying, microfilming, and digital scanning, are becoming so good, so readily available, and so serviceable for many research and teaching purposes, that the importance of the underlying original might be devalued. In recent years, scholars have identified an increasing number of library items that have research value as physical objects, above and beyond the information recorded in them. In other words, artifacts are things that have intrinsic value as objects, independent of their informational content. 3 For the purposes of this report, an artifact will be defined as an information resource in which the information is recorded on a physical medium, such as a photograph or a book, and in which the information value of the resource adheres not only in the text or content but also in the object itself. In academic parlance, “artifact” can refer to a physical object, a primary record, or a physical object that constitutes a primary record. Apart from this slight difference, both words refer to an old object with special importance for history.The word “artifact” can be confusing because it masks a number of unexamined assumptions. "Artefact" is the British noun that has the same meaning with "artifact", its American spelling. Consequently, even though they mean the same, it is recommended that you use "artifact" if you are writing to an American English speaker, in order to avoid confusion or unwanted debates upon the correctitude of this word. "Artifact" is defined as the US spelling of "artefact". So, obviously, you should only use "artefact" when you communicate in British English or when you are sure that your interlocutor has a good knowledge of English grammar and orthography and is aware of the fact that both "artefact" and "artifact" are considered correct. In American English, "artefact" is most likely to be considered wrong, as the US spelling for this noun is actually "artifact". You can see below in which context it is recommended to use the first form, and in which situation the second one is more appropriate. They often refer to special elements that carry historical interest and are very old.Īs for the difference between the spellings of these two words, as already mentioned above, it comes from the preferences that the US and the UK have for each. Find out which those are to keep your English vocabulary elegant anytime.īoth nouns, "artefact" and "artifact", define a special object, usually with a special design or signification. Similarly written and having the same meaning, "artefact" and "artifact" represent a pair of words that refer to the same thing, yet have some subtle restrictions regarding the contexts in which it's recommended to use each. But did you ever notice that the British pronunciation for this noun is slightly different than the American one? Well, this is because their spellings are also quite different. You have probably heard this word frequently used in mystery/adventure movies or games: artifact.
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