Using the Web for Documentation?

[Gunnora Hallakarva]

Diarmuit said:
<snip>
> Since, to my
>knowledge, there is no set SCA-Standard for which style the SCA *will*
>use, if anyone critiques your style standards in an A&S competition (unless
>such a standard has been declared FAR in advance), you have every right 
>to a) get pissed off and b) chew them new bodily orifices at your leisure
>since that sort of criticism is as much ego-masturbation as...
<more snipped>

Heilsa, Diarmuit!

As one of the Laurels who ends up evaluating or judging research papers in
this Kingdom, I'd like to interject my loud and outspoken opinion here. 

(SHOUTING INTENTIONAL!!!)

DO NOT ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BADMOUTH THE JUDGES!!! THEY DO IT JUST FINE
ALREADY!! AND IN SOME CASES WHETHER THEY HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON OR NOT!! (No
insult intended Diarmuit, but sometimes judging A&S is like swimming wit
piranha anyway! Whew! Now that I got that over with!)

Seriously, you are correct.  Unless the competition guidelines specify a
style guide, no judge can or should require a particular format.  HOWEVER,
whatever style guide you use (or even if you do not use one) the author
should provide the following basic items in the bibliography and/or footnotes:

AUTHOR
TITLE OF ARTICLE (if appropriate)
TITLE OF BOOK OR JOURNAL
VOLUME/NUMBER/SERIES NUMBER etc. (as necessary)
PUBLISHER
PLACE OF PUBLICATION
YEAR OF PUBLICATION
PAGE NUMBER(S) (for footnotes, in-text cites, endnotes, etc.)

The order is not important, nor is the format.  It really should be in the
same format throughout the paper to avoid confusing the reader.  So, it's a
good idea to pick a style guide (MLA, Turabian, Chicago, Associated Press
are my picks) and stick with it.  It might also be nice to mention what
style guide was used as well, just to drive home the fact to the judge that
you (1) know what a style guide is and (2) you used one, even if it isn't
the one the judge is most familiar with.  I actually haul my style guide
(MLA) with me to A&S when I enter a paper in case the judge wants to check
it out.

When I am judging a research paper at an A&S event (or hopefully, a week or
two ahead of the event!!) I do not complain about the notes/bibliography so
long as the basic information is there.  Failing to provide the page
numbers, or the publishing info is a glaring flaw, however, since the
interested reader cannot go and follow up on interesting tidbits in your
paper without them!

What I *do* look for in a research paper is:
===============================
- clear organization
- a paper that states what it is trying to accomplish
- a paper that accomplishes its stated purpose
- understandable prose ( I do not need magnificent artistic writing, I just
need it to clearly convey the information)
- conciseness (ie, not including irrelevant materials simply to make the
paper seem longer and thus more impressive)
- adequate acknowledgement of the author's sources (ie, no plagarism)
- a typed paper (it's unreasonable to ask anyone to read a handwritten paper
longer than two pages.  The judges do not want to go blind.)

What I do *not* bother with at all:
========================
-spelling (unless it is so completely awful that the reader cannot figure
out what the author is saying at all)
- grammar (again, I don't worry about it unless it is so bad you can't
understand what the author means)
- citation/bibliography style (so long as citations and bibliography include
the basic info already discussed)
- punctuation (who cares?  unless, again, it is so awful that the paper
cannot be understood)

NOTE, short documentation accompanying an A&S entry in the static or
(usually) the performing arts doesn't follow exactly the same rules as a
research paper.  This type of documentation still needs to clearly provide
the same citation/bibliographical information as is required in a research
paper, but it is not as critical since there is usually a limited amount of
text to be read.

I have been investigating the idea of establishing some sort of standards
for research papers which will be submitted as A&S entries in this kingdom.
I have consulted master Thomas of Tenby, Mistress Clare, Mistress Mari ferch
Rathtyen, Mistress Siobhan FitzLloyd, and Master Da'ud ibn Auda.  So far,
their thoughts are very similar to the ones I have explained above about
what judges do and do not want in A&S research papers.  My feeling is that
the basic, adequate research paper should be written at the level of a high
school senior/college freshman paper.  I would prefer that the papers use
one of the popular style guides (MLA, Chicago, Turabian, Associated Press).
And the paper should follow the guidelines I set out above while discussing
what I look for in a research paper.

I encourage anyone who has questions about writing research papers to ask
myself, or one of the very talented and erudite Laurels mentioned just
above.  Most of us will be more than glad to help you with your papers, and
to provide constructive critcism (not *destructive*!) before you enter the
fruits of your intillectual labor in an A&S competition.

Wassail,

::GUNNORA::
(Who is looking forward to reading the papers submitted for Laurel's Prize
Tourney as I'd just love to give someone largesse for a really good paper!)


Gunnora Hallakarva
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