ANST - Documentation (was Brewing competition results...)

[I. Marc Carlson]

<Michael Tucker <michaelt at mechatronics.com>>
>...An artisan recently put it to me something like this: "I'm an artisan. I make
>things. I make them in a period style, using period methods as much as possible,
>and with as much craftsmanship as I can. But, lately, I can't even get a
>positive comment from the judges, let alone win a competition. All they want to
>talk about is my documentation (or lack thereof). Someone beat me out who had
>entered a simple, crude piece but had wonderful documentation. That person
>wasn't an artisan, they were a scholar. They had done the research and published
>it well, but they were no craftsman. I thought this competition was to choose
>the best *artisan*, not the best *scholar*. If someone isn't qualified to
>recognize quality period craftsmanship when they see it, why are they judging?"
>...

Others have had some interesting, pertinant things to say about the reasons
for requiring documentation, the weaknesses in the judging system currently
and so on.  I want to take it from a completly different angle.

How are you supposed to know that this person using "period style", using
"period materials", and so forth?  Either we accept their word for it, or
they show us where they got the information that told us it is period. And
while, in social discourse, it's considered polite to accept someone's
word when they make an assertion, in an A&S competition, if we were just
going to accept their word for it, they could do almost anything and lie
about it.  Ideal documentation shows the connections that make it harder to
just "pad" the work. It can still be done, mind you, but it's declasse'.

I can't speak for anyone else, but to me, good documentation is more than
just a bibliography.  It's a written statement that can tell me whether they
did the work, they've actually studied the topic, or are just someone who
does a nice job, but what they do has nothing to do with the Middle Ages.
It doesn't have to be a Master's thesis, or even written in ink -- I don't
care how readable it is (although some people are concerned about that).
I'm concerned that it discusses the topic as completely as possible.

If there are indeed craftsmen and artisans who feel that they are being 
beaten out by "scholars", I'm afraid I don't have anything to say to that.

Marc/Diarmaid
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