research-msg - 10/26/19

Useful comments on doing research for SCA projects.

NOTE: See also the files: languages-msg, Med-Math-Sci-bib, Redacting-art, info-sources-msg, maps-msg, med-letters-msg, books-food-msg, publications-msg.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 18:45:29 -0500 (CDT)
From: "I. Marc Carlson" <LIB_IMC at centum.utulsa.edu>
To: ansteorra at eden.com
Subject: Re: A & S standards

<Stefan li Rous<"Mark Harris" <mark_harris at riscgate.sps.mot.com>>>
>While I would like to hear your definitions and contrasts between all
>five of these and particularly the last two, we can take this to email
>unless you think others might be interested.
<PUG<Richard Bainter <pug at interval.net>>>
>I'm interested, and think others would be as well. Although I have
>concepts of what these are, I don't know what others think they are, nor
>the proper definitions. (Which I can of course look up, but doesn't tell
>me what others think they are.)

Since I have two on-list, and one off-, in favor of more spouting of
opinion :), and one of those is the guy running the place.  

Ok, as I learned this way back at the Pompous Academy, a "Primary"
source is the item in question that you are study.  A Secondary source
is one step removed from that item.  A Tertiary source is a further
remove than that.

For example, if I were going to discuss Medieval Shoes, if I had
access to a REAL Medieval shoe, that would be a Primary Source. A
photograph, or a detailed description of that shoe, would be a
Secondary source.  Someone relating what someone ELSE had to say about
that shoe would be a Tertiary source (This is the real reason for asking
for citations...  Unless you are a recognized authority in something or
other, and have explored that topic on your own, all you are likely to
be doing when relating "facts" is to be quoting what other people have 
said about it, and as anyone who has ever played the "telephone game" 
should be able to attest to, sometimes minor details can dissapear -- and
when enough minor details dissapear, the message becomes garbage.

(BTW, my shoe site is, with regards to actual medieval shoes, a Tertiary
source (at best); although it can be considered a secondary source regarding
making shoes that resemble medieval shoes, or shoes in a style I believe
resembles a Medieval one (since I *have* done that); and a primary source
(one of many, most of which are IMO better) if you were doing a study on 
the various levels of scholarship on the 'Net.)

Let's look at this another way.  We have in this Society what has been 
referred to as the "ubiquitous Viking Women's Tabard".  Not terribly long 
ago, Gunnora made a reference to this on the Historical Costuming List,
and pointing out that this was an erroneous interpretation.  My wife, fussy
costumer that she is wanted me (she would have done it herself, but she
is still without email) to find out on what sources Gunnora had used to base
this statement.

(Note that this was not a criticism of Gunnora or her scholastic integrity,
but for something like this, had Talona simply *accepted* someone else's
word would have been inexcusably sloppy without some idea of WHY that other
person had made such a statement.)

Gunnora cheerfully supplied some sources most of which we immeadiately 
placed InterLibrary Loan requests on.  We have now started to look at 
the first of these, and what it appears has happened was that these 
dresses were first excavated [Primary Sources]; they were described in 
print by the Archaeologist, and the experts they consulted with [Secondary 
Sources].  However, these were in German, and when these sources were 
first quoted in English [Tertiary Source] a significant error crept in, 
transforming the wraparound dress style to be described as a front and 
back tabard.  Until recently, all of the costuming works that described 
the dress in English, were based on that flawed tertiary source, which 
means that (if this is the correct sequence of events, something I will 
be able to state with more conviction when the German works we are 
waiting on come in) everyone who made an outfit, basing their work, in
Good Faith, upon the work of THEIR sources runs the risk of looking
pretty stupid, or feeling like they look stupid.  (BTW, if you simply
take MY word for it, you are running a great risk, since I have no idea
at this point if the mistranslation hypothesis is supported by the original
German materials).

Are you seeing a pattern here ?  :) 

I. Marc Carlson, Reference Librarian    |LIB_IMC at CENTUM.UTULSA.EDU
Tulsa Community College, West Campus LRC|Sometimes known as:
Reference Tech. McFarlin Library        | Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn 
University of Tulsa, 2933 E. 6th St.    | University of Northkeep 
Tulsa, OK  74104-3123 (918) 631-3794    | Northkeepshire, Ansteorra


Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 20:33:46 -0500 (CDT)
From: "I. Marc Carlson" <LIB_IMC at centum.utulsa.edu>
To: ansteorra at eden.com
Subject: Re: A & S standards

<Stefan li Rous<"Mark Harris" <mark_harris at riscgate.sps.mot.com>>>
>What is the difference between "Primary" and "Principle" sources? Or
>did I miss something in your explantion, Diarmuit? (Like a second
>message :-) )

I left that part out since I was starting to rant and froth at the 
keyboard.  I'm better now, and will get to the other part of the topic.
Now, assuming the jargon I described to you is accurate, what is wrong
with the following statement: "I made these shoes using _Shoes and Pattens_
as my primary source"?  *Technically* there is nothing wrong with the
statement, so why are all those academics sharpening their quills with
their grinding teeth?  The problem is that *since* "primary" is a jargon
term for the "original" item, and its meaning of "principle" or "major"
comes second to that (see which definition comes first in the dictionaries),
the use of the term, while technically accurate, can often sound like an
illiterate jargon usage (for example, would you be caught dead saying that
"my car is my main mode of transmission"?).  Yes, the "problem" such as 
it is, is with the anal academics (and I speak as somebody that the term
"my primary source" drives insane).

In short, by asking the question that way, I was intending to emphasis
the difference in meaning between "Primary" and Primary (we won't even
DISCUSS "primary").  I was asking if people knew the difference between 
the jargon term and the simple English word that means the same as
Principle...

Diarmuit


Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 13:04:17 -0800
From: Mary Haselbauer <slaine at stlnet.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Documentation resource

I would like to recommend a book from my art history days.

Art Information: Research Methods and Resources 3rd edition
Lois Swan Jones.  Kendall/Hunt Publishing 1990
ISBN 0-8403-5713-3

I'm guessing that there is a more recent edition that
includes internet stuff.
This book is great! It has information about planning
searches, bibliographies, museums, citation and resources.
It's intended for all periods of art research but it has
a section on the middle ages and renaissance.
Extremly valuable are the mini dictionaries of art terms in
German, French, and Italian.
Cheers,
Slaine


Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 11:24:23 -0500
From: rcmann4 at earthlink.net
Subject: Inter-Library Loan ( wasRe: Fwd:  RE: SC - Portuguese Cookbook)

And it came to pass on 7 Mar 01, , that Stefan li Rous wrote:
> OCLC??? RLIN??? Awk!!
> 
> If one of the many librarians on this list would be willing to write
> a short overview article on using ILL (Inter-Library Loan) to do research,
> or how to use library resources in general for this, I'd like to have
> such an article for the Florilegium.

I am not offering to write an article, and I'm not sure if I'm really 
qualified to do so.  I don't work in a university library, as some of 
my colleagues on the list do.  I don't have access to OCLC or 
RLIN, which are databases of the holdings of academic and major 
public libraries.  I am a reference librarian in a medium-sized 
suburban public library.  As such, I am probably typical of the 
librarians that SCAdian researchers are likely to deal with, if they 
don't have easy access to a university library.

Here are a few tips.  I am going to assume that you already have a 
specific book in mind.  (Identifying specific titles in one's area of 
interest is a whole article unto itself.)

1. Ask if your library has the book that you want.  You might be 
pleasantly surprised.

2. Ask for an inter-library loan.  If the answer to question #1 is "no", 
librarians will not always offer an ILL, even if one is possible.  
Depending on the library, that may mean dealing with the same 
librarian, or going upstairs to the ILL department, or coming back 
on Thursday, because Mrs. Doe is the only person who knows how 
to do ILL.

3. Give as much information as possible about the book -- author, 
title, publication date.  The ISBN (if any) is usually helpful.

4. If you need a particular edition/translation/volume, say so.  If you 
only want the Flower and Rosenbaum translation of Apicius, tell 
the librarian.  Otherwise, you may wind up with Vehling, or a copy 
of the untranslated Latin text.  If you care about format, say so.  
Will a photocopy of pp. 27-35 do, or do you need the whole book?  
What about microfilm?

5. Ask about borrowing fees.  Sometimes there is one, sometimes 
there isn't.  You may be asked to specify a fee limit.

6. Be prepared to wait.  An ILL request may take several weeks to 
produce results.  Remember that your local librarian cannot make 
the book arrive any sooner.  Once he/she has sent in the request, 
it is out of his/her hands.

7. Be aware that the loan period is set by the lending library.  Two 
weeks may not be long enough to study "The History of Pre-
Modern Ruritania", but complaining to your local librarian won't 
help.  You can ask about renewals, but don't be surprised if the 
answer is "no".  Or, as I sometimes tell patrons when they 
complain, "Their book, their rules."

8. When the book arrives, treat it with care and respect, and be 
sure to return it promptly and in good condition.  "Lost book" fees 
for out-of-print titles can be astronomical.  Repeated problems may 
cause your local library to cut off your ILL privileges.  Repeated 
problems may cause a research library to cut off your local 
*library's* ILL privileges.  ILL is a system of organized cooperation, 
and if a certain library feels that the system is being abused, it can 
tighten the restrictions on what it will loan, and to whom.

9. Be nice to your local librarian.  Theoretically, every patron gets 
the same level of service.  In practice, librarians are human beings, 
and are likely to go a little further for people who treat them nicely.  
Joe Grumpy will get the ILL he asks for.  Jane Smiley will get her 
ILL, but may also get unsolicited recommendations on other useful 
books, or an offer to search a relevant database for more 
information.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 16:54:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Inter-Library Loan ( wasRe: Fwd:  RE: SC - Portuguese Cookbook)

- --- rcmann4 at earthlink.net wrote:
> And it came to pass on 7 Mar 01, , that Stefan li Rous wrote:
> 
> > OCLC??? RLIN??? Awk!!

OCLC = Ohio College Library Computer system [IIRC]
RLIN = Research Library Information Network

And, no, individuals don't have access to either of
these.  They are inter-library computer systems, which
help libraries identify names, titles, & editions and
saves time and money with cataloging them.  My library
pays approximately $80,000 per year on our RLIN use.

> 6. Be prepared to wait.  An ILL request may take several weeks to 
> produce results.  Remember that your local librarian cannot make 
> the book arrive any sooner.  Once he/she has sent in the request, 
> it is out of his/her hands.

And sometimes the local librarian has to ask more than
one library to borrow said book.  Said book could
already be circulating, or lost, or on the reserve
shelf and not available for ILL.  Or some libraries
are very selective about the kinds of libraries they
loan out to.  I once had to wait 6 months for a book
on ILL because the librarian had to go through at
least 6 libraries before she found one who would loan
the book out.  Sometimes it just takes time.

Thank you Brighid for such a well written post.  I
couldn't have said it better.

Huette


Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 23:58:14 -0500
From: rcmann4 at earthlink.net
Subject: SC - Re: Inter-Library Loan

And it came to pass on 7 Mar 01, , that Huette von Ahrens wrote:
> OCLC = Ohio College Library Computer system [IIRC]
> RLIN = Research Library Information Network
> 
> And, no, individuals don't have access to either of
> these.  They are inter-library computer systems, which
> help libraries identify names, titles, & editions and
> saves time and money with cataloging them.  My library
> pays approximately $80,000 per year on our RLIN use.

It is worth mentioning that the Library of Congress catalog is online 
at http://catalog.loc.gov
It does not list every book in existence,and it does not tell you 
what other libraries own a certain title, but it is quite useful.
 
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 09:11:40 -0500 (EST)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: Inter-Library Loan ( wasRe: Fwd:  RE: SC - Portuguese Cookbook)

> Only six months, eh? Four months ago, I was notified by
> the university library that a microfilmed thesis, ordered
> through ILL, was finally in and did I still want it considering I'd
> asked for it three years before?
> One wonders.

Oh. Important note: getting dissertations and theses through ILL is
generally pretty tough. (Well, if you had one of only two copies in the
world of something, how would YOU feel about loaning it to a complete
stranger.) If you need a US dissertation, blow the $25-$30 and buy it from
UMI. Some ILL departments will process this for you, but if you're an
independent scholar, you'll probably have to contact UMI directly, and
maybe get your copy electronically:
http://www.umi.com/hp/Products/Dissertations.html
 -- 
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net


Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 09:14:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: Inter-Library Loan ( wasRe: Fwd:  RE: SC - Portuguese Cookbook)

> OCLC = Ohio College Library Computer system [IIRC]
> RLIN = Research Library Information Network 
> And, no, individuals don't have access to either of
> these.  They are inter-library computer systems, which
> help libraries identify names, titles, & editions and
> saves time and money with cataloging them.  My library
> pays approximately $80,000 per year on our RLIN use.

However, OCLC markets an 'end-user' system to libraries, called Worldcat,
which contains the OCLC holdings database but is searched like any other
index database. A very handy tool if you or some sympathetic librarian can
get access to it. (Many academic libraries buy access to Worldcat via a
subscription, which makes it economical for them to do marginal searching
which is impractical in the per-search charging model of the OCLC database
itself.)
- -- 
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net


Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 09:58:58 -0800 (PST)
From: Ginny Claphan <mizginny at yahoo.com>
Subject: SC - OCLC

And it came to pass on 7 Mar 01, , that Huette von Ahrens wrote:
> OCLC = Ohio College Library Computer system [IIRC]

Actually it's Online Computer Library Center in Dublin, Ohio (USA). Several SCA
people work there.
http://www.oclc.org. 

Gwyneth


Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:17:09 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] EEBO was tisane
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

EEBO_TCP is an academic database available through libraries.
Ask if your university library subscribes to it. It can run as much $30,000
per year to subscribe so not every library subscribes. Once in, search functions
are well described. You'll also want to check out the scanned images available as part of EEBO. Also the 18th century English texts are being put up as
part of ECCO.

Johnnae

emilio szabo wrote:
> I appreciate your help very much! Of course I was excited to hear  
> about EEBO-TCP and a searchable text of Gerarde 1633 etc. snipped
> Again: I would be happy to learn more about the EEBO-TCP facilities.
>
> Emilio


Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:34:31 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Two questions

On Sep 11, 2009, at 10:11 PM, David Walddon wrote:
<<< Johnnae,
Tell me it isn't so!
A coin operated microfilm reader!
I bet it has the slimy paper too!
Seattle has the new USB Microfilm reader.
SO COOL!!!
It "prints" (I think to PDF) right to your USB thumb drive!
And then you can ZOOM in!
Eduardo >>>

Part of the problem with microfilm collections is that if the old technology
works and they can still get supplies .. well yeah you might well encounter
slick paper copiers in the microfilm rooms. They are so underutilized these days...
Or you could encounter an excellent new reader scanner/printer or nothing at all in terms of a printer that makes copies.
(Our local public library has a reader but no printer which means those using
interlibrary loaned microfilms must copy information off by hand.)
Numerous libraries did buy Early English printed book collections in microfilm
and those collections are still there. Libraries that can't afford the online EEBO collection can still provide access to the books. It's just more work.

(BTW, the trick with slick paper copies is to make a plain paper copy of the slick copies as soon as possible. Then store the slick paper copies in an archival box. I have copies I made from microfilm from the 1980's that are in perfect shape because I did this.)

I used a brand new scanner at the UM to make a copy of a work that I  
owned on microfilm several years back.
(I shall just say it's a cookery book from 1500.)
It took hours and hours. Luckily they hadn't connected it to a coin/ 
charge machine yet, so they let me have my copies for free since I was a librarian.

People may gripe about EEBO and EEBO-TCP but they have really  
revolutionized the study of English texts.

Johnnae


Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:12:36 +1100
From: Lalita Tanner <duneheve at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] Question on researching a location
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
	<lochac at lochac.sca.org>

Im afraid I don't know how ILL (Inter-Library Loan) may differ in the US
vs. Australia/New Zealnad, but perhaps this file in the INFO-SOURCES section
of the >Florilegium might help.
Using-ILL-art      (8K) 11/09/03    "Interlibrary Loan" by Aelfwynn of
Whitby

Most of the information looks like what we do in Australia for Interlibrary
Loans.  Libraries Australia, the database that can be used to find items in
other libraries in the country has changed to Trove which can be found at :
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ .  Cost and time depend on the level of standard
that has been requested.  Core level takes 4 working days for either the
item or a negative response to be sent. The cost is $13.50 but not all
libraries make the patron pay the cost, it depends on the institution.
There is also express and rush, 2 hours and 24 hours respectively but they
also cost way more.

Madelina of Duneheve


Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:56:58 +0000
From: yaini0625 at yahoo.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Google and BSB / direct link to grater image

<<< Question about Google books:
Is there a way to save a page?

I sometimes find some useful information and cannot figure out a way 
to save a page. So i retype the text into a text program. I realize 
that they are protecting copyright, and i am not trying to save a 
whole book. But it sure would be easier to be able to save the page
-- 
Someone sometimes called Urtatim >>>

I have found that it depends on the book or writings. If it is in PDF format or option you can save it to your computer. I have done that for the Gragas. For other books I found you can only save the link only. I have notebooks after notebooks full of notes based on books I have found on Google Books.
One draw back I found with some Google Books is that the publishers don't always post the whole book. 
Has anyone successfully downloaded any books to the Kindles-like thingys?
Aelina the Saami
Aka in the Roman World as Tibia Fibula Gimpia


Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:16:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Google books: save a single page

<< Question about Google books:
Is there a way to save a page? >> 

One way to save a single page, that is on your screen, is to use e.g. Firefox's 
option SAVE AS with the parameter setting "whole/complete website" to a specific 
place on your hard drive. If you do that, you will find several files in the 
directory <specific place>, one of them is a JPEG file with the page you want.

E.


Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:29:14 -0400
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
To: yaini0625 at yahoo.com, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Google and BSB / direct link to grater image

On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 1:56 PM,  <yaini0625 at yahoo.com> wrote:
<<< Has anyone successfully downloaded any books to the Kindles-like
thingys? >>>

Books in public domain, yes.  I use freeware called Calibre to convert
some files into Kindle-friendly formats.

Brighid ni Chiarain


Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2012 13:33:30 -0600
From: James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Search Techniques

A brief partial answer.  Five years ago if you wanted an old book you
had to go to a university library.  If it wasn't at your own university,
you had to do inter library loan.

Today, that's changing fast.  Very fast.  Google Books, plus the French
Gallica, plus Archive (only the facsimiles), plus Open Library, plus
assorted university and government and even personal libraries now have
facsimiles of old books not only available but also searchable, which is
something you can't do as easily with a printed book, even a well-indexed
printed book.

Most of the above are available free.  Some others are behind pay walls
that you would need subscribing library or university affiliation to use.

I've done a couple of research projects in the past two years (one cooking,
one non-cooking) that would have been almost literally impossible five
years ago.  A facsimile is 99% primary source, since I don't need to see
the actual physical book for my kind of research.

For me entry to all of the above is via Google or Google Scholar.  I will
occasionally check a really tough query using the other search engines,
but in the past two years they've never come through with something that
Google did not know about.  Ten years ago they would occasionally find
stuff that Google couldn't, and I keep hoping.

For questions, I'd still use this list, and other SCA lists, rather than
Facebook for queries, though that is slowly changing.  I work from a
desktop computer, not a laptop or phone.  I have one question pending
that I sent to a museum by email.

I sometimes will search online before going to a book that I know I have
in my library, because of the online ability to search within the book.

There is still nothing online that beats going directly to my big OED
(I have not bought the up-to-date digital version, though I probably
should).  Same thing for my half-dozen French dictionaries, Latin, etc.
I pick them up first before going online.  Oh, the older Larousse
Gastronomique also, the one before they modernized it to useless.

Still, your question is relevant since I find occasionally that I'm not
going to books that I possess, but hoping instead that an online search
will find me the equivalent information.  A form of creeping laziness.

For finding modern interpretations of old recipes, online, though I do
not make frequent use of these.

Thorvald

At 11:38 AM -0400 10/4/12, Johnna Holloway wrote:
<<< This may seem a bit offbeat, but I thought maybe this list might 
like the topic.

For a talk I am scheduled to give at a cookery conference down the road,
I have been looking once more into the larger question of how 
people go looking for information on historical Medieval and 
Renaissance cookery, foods, and/or recipes.

Where do you look for information and ideas on medieval foods and 
feasts in 2012 as opposed to say back in 2002 or 1992? The web and 
lists first?
Have the lists of yesteryear been supplanted by Facebook?

If seeking information, do you post the query before attempting to 
look on your own?
Or do you Google first? Is this being driven by use of cellphones 
and not computers? Is it easier to post the query than to search
on the smartphone? Do people also not respond to a query now 
because it's harder to do so from a smartphone?

How about Resources at home? Do you buy fewer books?
How about using Resources/databases through a library? Do you ever 
look through a book at home first?

How have your search techniques changed?

Medieval recipes? Do you look at books at home first or turn
to the web?  Which sites do you use and trust?
Have you dropped out of researching ? After an N number of years, 
you no longer care to keep up with the field. You've retired.

I was told recently that someone did all of his/her medieval 
cookery research for an SCA "cookbook"
by using Yahoo and the term "medieval". The author didn't check the 
validity of the sources.
Yahoo was good enough! "All of the information [needed] is just there!"
When questioned if this was good enough, the author was of the 
opinion that everyone's research was equally valid  and ok because 
this was the SCA.

Johnnae >>>


Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:21:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Galefridus Peregrinus <galefridus at optimum.net>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Search Techniques

I find that the primary reference database that I use the most is Google 
Scholar (scholar.google.com), which lists books, theses, scholarly 
articles, and various other sources. It works pretty well for culinary 
history. I also make extensive use of bibliographies of existing books. 
The thing is, these resources are more helpful in locating scholarship 
about food and cooking than in locating primary sources that I might not 
have been aware of. Interestingly, the bibliographies of Wikipedia 
articles tend to be good for finding the primary stuff, especially if 
you have a name. Wiki articles about medieval cooks and physicians will 
often include a list of their works, and I often find out about useful 
primary materials in that way.

One trick that I've used productively is to google the primary source, 
which often results in a list of articles and books about that source, 
many of which may contain redacted recipes.

Recently I've taken to visiting the Prospect Books web site every so 
often and scanning the tables of contents of their most recent books, or 
recent issues of Petits Propos Culinaires. Lots of interesting and 
useful stuff to look at there.

I tend not to ask for help until after I've exhausted my own resources, 
at which point I may post to this list, or possibly contact a known 
scholar in the hope that he or she will respond positively to my request 
for information.

-- Galefridus


Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:58:38 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Search Techniques

I have machine readable texts of translations of a number of cookbooks 
on my desktop--the same texts I have webbed on my site. Unlike printed 
books, they are searchable. So one of the first things I would do would 
be a search of likely candidates, such as the Anonymous Andalusian. My 
current interest, al-Warraq, I only have as hardcopy, and that might be 
my next target. I use the web to get information and to find sources for 
ingredients I can't find locally, but I don't think I've ever used it to 
look for primary source recipes, and my only real interest in secondary 
source recipes is to occasionally look at how someone else has done 
something I'm already familiar with.


Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:09:17 +1300
From: tamara at suncrow.com
Subject: [Lochac] Met Publications online
To: "Shambles  \(Lochac\)" <lochac at sca.org.au>

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is putting their publications  
online, including entire eBooks, for free.

Oooh.  I see at least three books I want just on the first page of the  
"Titles with full text online" section...

Kazimira

------------------------

MetPublications is a portal to the Met?s comprehensive publishing  
program. Beginning with nearly 650 titles published from 1964 to the  
present, this resource will continue to expand and could eventually  
offer access to nearly all books, Bulletins, and Journals published by  
the Metropolitan Museum since the Met's founding in 1870. It will also  
include online publications.

MetPublications includes a description and table of contents for  
almost every title, as well as information about the authors, reviews,  
awards, and links to related Met bibliographies by author, theme, or  
keyword. Current titles that are in-print may be previewed and fully  
searched online, with a link to purchase the book. The full contents  
of almost all other titles may be read online, searched, or downloaded  
as a PDF, at no cost. Books can be previewed or read and searched  
through the Google Books program. Many out-of-print books are  
available for purchase, when rights permit, through print-on-demand  
capabilities in association with Yale University Press.

Readers may also locate works of art from the Met's collections that  
are included within each title and access the most recent information  
about these works in Collections.

Readers are also directed to every title located in library catalogues  
on WATSONLINE and WorldCat.

Please check back frequently for updates and new book titles.

MetPublications is made possible by Hunt & Betsy Lawrence.


From: galefridus at optimum.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-librarians] Looking for 'Research Tips" for TI
Date: December 6, 2012 10:43:56 AM CST
To: Jennifer Heise <jenne.heise at gmail.com>
Cc: sca-librarians at lists.gallowglass.org

Here's one of my favorites:

As a food and cooking geek, I've found that one of the premier publishers of culinary history is Prospect Books (https://prospectbooks.co.uk/intro). Once a month or so I browse through their New and forthcoming titles list, and I often find items of interest. Most title listings include a pdf of the table of contents and front matter; if not, you'll always find at least a table of contents. The individual issues of their journal, Petits Propos Culinaires, are also worth looking at -- not only will you get the table of contents of the individual issue, but you'll also get pretty much the entirety of the news and reviews section, which can be extremely valuable.

-- Galefridus

----- Original Message -----
From: Jennifer Heise 
Date: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 9:56 pm
Subject: [Sca-librarians] Looking for 'Research Tips" for TI
To: sca-librarians at lists.gallowglass.org

> Have a favorite website to use for SCA research? TI can use 
> reviews of
> those sites as "Research Tips" and would love to get some. 
> Anyone up for it?
> 
> -- 
> Jennifer Heise
> known in the SCA as Jadwiga Zajaczkowa


From: Chantelle Gerrard <chantellegerrard at gmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] A useful resource....
Date: May 22, 2014 5:05:21 PM CDT
To: New Zealand SCA discussion <althing at sca.org.nz>, "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list" <lochac at lochac.sca.org>, Barony of Ildhafn <ildhafn at sca.org.nz>, "cluain at sca.org.nz" <cluain at sca.org.nz>

This may have come up in discussion before, but I was shown something very helpful the other day that some people may not know about.. Google Art Project.

If you type in Google art project into your browser or follow the link
below it will take you to a site that allows you to browse art/design and architecture etc collections all over the world. If you are looking for an artist or designer - it is there. You can also make 'play lists' and a few other things on the site....

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project

the other thing that some people still may not know about is Google
scholar, if you type it in once again to the browser it may help with
finding journal entries, Theseus publications and more than usual reliable references/articles than the internet can usually provide.....

I am not very technological - and so I wasn't exposed to these things until recently - so I am assuming they may be useful to others.....

happy browsing!
Christine Bess Duvaunt.


From: Ian Whitchurch <ian.whitchurch at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] A useful resource....
Date: May 26, 2014 5:58:56 PM CDT
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list" <lochac at lochac.sca.org>

Speaking of theseus publications, I find a useful trick with google to
leave a thread behind me that I can follow is to search for [whatever] as
[whatever] [bibliography] - this ideally throws out all links that dont
have a bibliography.

If you need specific journal articles that are behind paywalls, because
Eslevier or some other enemy of learning has walled them up, it usually
works to just ask here, and then someone or other grabs them and passes
them on.

Anton


On Fri, May 23, 2014 at 8:05 AM, Chantelle Gerrard <
chantellegerrard at gmail.com> wrote:
<<<
This may have come up in discussion before, but I was shown something very
helpful the other day that some people may not know about.. Google Art
Project.

If you type in Google art project into your browser or follow the link
below it will take you to a site that allows you to browse art/design and
architecture etc collections all over the world. If you are looking for an
artist or designer - it is there. You can also make 'play lists' and a few
other things on the site....

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project

the other thing that some people still may not know about is Google
scholar, if you type it in once again to the browser it may help with
finding journal entries, Theseus publications and more than usual reliable
references/articles than the internet can usually provide.....

I am not very technological - and so I wasn't exposed to these things until
recently - so I am assuming they may be useful to others.....

happy browsing!
Christine Bess Duvaunt. >>>


Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2016 22:38:46 -0500
From: Douglas Bell <debell77840 at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 2016 Silly Season Starts

On Sat, Jul 30, 2016 at 10:21 PM, Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com> wrote:
<<< Thanks.  What is Worldcat? >>>

WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog

https://www.worldcat.org/

Magnus


Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2016 07:28:07 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 2016 Silly Season Starts

Worldcat at one time was known as OCLC. It was a shared cataloguing database for libraries. (I can remember the first OCLC terminals arriving at the UofI back in the 1970s.) It's now up online for anyone to use. It allows you to identify items that might be of interest and construct a bibliography, or verify sources as to spelling, year, proper title, etc. In this case browsing the subject headings I gave you should turn up other titles to seek out and loan in. It's a research tool of the first order. We used to wait in line to use a terminal during the half hour free time a day; now you can use it anytime, anyplace.

http://www.worldcat.org

http://www.worldcat.org/whatis/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldCat

Johnnae


Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2016 13:19:03 -0400
From: JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 2016 Silly Season Starts

Worldcat is indeed a precious tool. Regular users should be aware however  
that it is not complete. I was surprised to discover someone had found one 
of my  own books in her local library, one not indexed in worldcat. On the 
other hand, one of my books is listed as being at a certain library, but that library no longer holds it.

Not a big deal - these are what we call in IT "edge cases" - but something  
to consider for some research.

Jim  Chevallier
http://www.chezjim.com/


Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2016 15:33:58 -0500
From: Stefan li Rous <stefanlirous at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 2016 Silly Season Starts

<<< All bibliographic catalogs and databases have their errors and inconsistencies, but Worldcat beats using the printed volumes of the NUC when it comes to a quick search.

Johnna >>>

Uh, for us non-librarians, can you translate that, please?
NUC? why is using the printed volumes important?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra


Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2016 16:35:59 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 2016 Silly Season Starts

National Union Catalog.  It's a publication that was started in the 1950s 
as an extension of the Library of Congress union cataloging project.  There 
are two sections to the catalog, Pre-1956 and Post-1955.  The Pre-56 section 
has been published in hard bound takes 130 feet of shelf space and weighs 
roughly 3 tons.  The NUC is now published as microfiche.  It contains 
roughly 20% more entries than Worldcat, although that is slowly being 
corrected.  The NUC is considered the gold standard for North American 
library catalogs.

I've encountered it once in my researches, so Johnna can certainly provide 
more detail than I.

Bear


Date: Mon, 01 Aug 2016 20:49:04 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 2016 Silly Season Starts

There's a quick summary here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Union_Catalog

There is an entire world of printed library and union catalogs. The best of the research libraries in this country owned them all. What were they used for? Bibliographic verification, cataloguing information, holdings to a degree, etc. They are largely superseded by the  online catalogs and databases, yet sometimes they are still valuable and there are scholars who still use them. Today it's often a question of retention. See this paper for information about medium sized libraries keeping or discarding their sets. 

https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Abbott_Scherlen2013_NUC.pdf

Johnna


From the fb " SCA Library of Alexandria - A&S discussions with the Laurels of our Realms" group:

Genny Grim 
This book is my go-to for learning to do research. (I'm a university librarian and this is the book I give our new students.)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Guide-Library-Research/dp/0199931062/ref=redir_mobile_desktop/260-3984167-2592803?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=dp_ob_neva_mobile

Sata Prescott 
Hi there! Friendly neighborhood librarian speaking! Others have mentioned research classes, but your local college might also offer a free research seminar. For internet research, I can recommend the program Zotero for helping organize notes, sources, and pulled quotes. I can also mention that JSTOR has a generous free membership. It is probably the best access you can get to academic materials online without university or industry buying power. As a last note, one of the quick-n-dirty research techniques I can dispense is: Find one resource you can use, and look to see if they offer a bibliography. If they do, investigate all of those. Repeat process. And primary sources are king.
October 1, 2017 at 10:15am

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	research-msg	2 of 17