RF - 5 x 8 documentation

[L T]

Saw this on the Ansteorran List and thought
it would be helpful...

I will have copies available at the event
this weekend...

Lorraine

HOW TO WRITE DOCUMENTATION FOR A&S ENTRIES
==========================================

The basics of almost any documentation can and should
be possible to do 
on
one of those larger 5x8 index cards.

The harsh reality is that no one will read more than
about a paragraph 
of
data anyway except in exceptional situations.
Especially at a large 
event
such as Kingdom A&S or LPT, the judges are spread
pretty thin and most 
will
not read at all, much less read a tome of research
information.

Many successful artisans will place a clearly marked
"DOCUMENTATION 
SUMMARY"
section at the head of a longer piece of
documentation. This is an 
excellent
idea. As well, it is a good idea to actually create a
5x8 index card 
for
every entry with the "short form" documentation on it
(in addition to 
the
longer explanation), and place it right next to the
item, since some 
folks
are lazy and won't open your notebook containing the
research.

DOCUMENTATION BASICS
---------------------------------------

(1) "What is it (title, basic description)?" i.e.,
Reproduction of a 
13th
Century Icelandic Whalebone Ear Spoon

(2) "How were similar items made in period?" Give the
basics of the 
medieval
examples. i.e., "Earspoons were a common implement for
personal hygiene 
used
throughout the Middle Ages, consisting of a small,
spoon-shaped tool 
for
scraping the ears. They could be cast in silver, or
carved from wood, 
bone,
antler or ivory. Some were very elaborate, including
extensive 
ornamentation
on the handle. Some were worn as part of the day to
day costume as 
well."

(3) "How was your item made? How is it like the
medieval examples? 
Where
have you deviated from the medieval techniques, and
why?"

This is the hardest area for most people. It is very
important to 
explain
where you made design changes or substituted materials
-- these things 
are
acceptable, but you must show that you understand how
the real ones are
made, and don't allow the judges to think that you are
trying to put 
one
over on them

i.e. "I used deer antler for this project since
whalebone is obviously 
not
available to the modern Ansteorran. This was soaked in
cold water for 
two
days, then boiled for 3 hours before working. I
roughed out the shape 
with a
coping saw, then did close shaping whittling with a
sharp penknife. 
Final
shaping involved the use of wet sanding, carving with
engraving tools 
and
burins (using a Dremel tool for some areas as I don't
possess some of 
the
tools that a medieval bone carver would have used),
and finally buffing 
with
beeswax to shine the surface."

Sometimes you also need to explain the "why" of an
item. For instance, 
a
13th century hatbox of molded leather designed to hold
a reticulated 
caul
headdress, yet decorated with early Celtic designs
will appear 
incongruous,
unless the judge reads the documentation to find an
explanation: i.e.,
"Normally hatboxes of this period would have used
Gothic design 
elements
similar to those found in church architecture,
however, this box was
commissioned by Baroness Butshe Wanteditthatway, who
requested the 
specific
designs utilized here."

DOCUMENTATION AND HONESTY
---------------------------------------

One thing to always avoid is DO NOT LIE IN YOUR
DOCUMENTATION. Chances 
are
very good that *someone* who looks at your entry will
know enough about 
it
to know if you are fibbing in your documentation, and
you will come out
looking bad.

If you used a less than medieval technique or
material, THAT'S OK! All 
the
judges want to see is that you know what the original
item was, and how 
it
was made -- so for instance, if you used an acrylic
white paint instead 
of
making your own (toxic) lead-based pigment, say so -
and say why: 
"Normally
a lead-based pigment would have been used to create
the white paint, 
but
since lead is toxic, I elected to use the safer
acrylic white."

The same goes for construction. If you used a Dremel
tool, a carving 
expert
can see the rotary nature of the cuts. Better to say,
"Although 
medieval
craftsmen would have used a bit-and-brace and
hand-burins, I have used 
a
Dremel tool for ease in construction."

 You won't lose points for a well-documented
substitution, so long as 
you
explain why. Tell the judges why you did and why so
they know that YOU 
know.
But don't try to lie in your documentation to make
your project look
better - as often this technique backfires and makes
YOU look worse!

REFERENCES
---------------------------------------

Some events actually will specify a number of
references. If so, be 
sure to
actually use at least the minimum number of references
required. I do 
not
favor requiring X number of references, however, since
different items 
may
need differing amounts of references to document them
adequately.

For instance, if you are carving antler or bone, then
MacGregor's 
"Bone,
Antler, Ivory and Horn" is a pretty much one-stop
reference for many 
items,
though as a tertiary source it really should be
supported by photos or 
other
sources. Sometimes a picture is literally worth a
thousand words -- for
instance, the reticulated caul hatbox entered at Gulf
Wars 1997, where 
the
only documentation was a museum postcard with the date
and a photo of 
the
item - though additional sources on medieval
leatherwork would have 
really
added a lot to the documentation.

However, as a rule of thumb, it is best to aim for no
less than three 
good
sources. What is a good source? It depends on the
field.

Usually a primary source is the best possible source,
but a primary 
source
is THE ITEM ITSELF - for instance one of Queen
Elizabeth's dresses is a
primary source. Janet Arnold's book, Queen Elizabeth's
Wardrobe 
Unlock'd is
a secondary source, but a very good secondary source.
A book review of
Arnold's book is a tertiary source.

Most of us will not have the opportunity to go to the
European Museums 
and
see primary sources in person. So instead we rely upon
secondary 
sources - a
picture of the item, an archaeological report
describing the item, or a
painting by an artist of the period of the item.

If you can, try to have at least one primary source or
one or two good
secondary sources. If you can't get this type of
documentation, then 
you are
down to tertiary sources. For instance, MacGregor's
"Bone, Antler, 
Ivory and
Horn" book is a tertiary source -- he has compiled the
information from
archaeological reports about the items he describes.
When using a 
tertiary
source, try to corroborate the evidence using other
sources as well, 
such as
a photo from a museum catalog, or additional secondary
and/or tertiary
sources that agree with your first source.

The terms primary, secondary and tertiary confuse many
people. It's 
pretty
simple to understand. Think of a saint's relic: a
primary relic is an 
actual
part of the saint - Saint Acutiaria's finger bone. A
secondary relic is
something that the saint has touched, for example the
clothing worn by 
St.
Winifred, or the Pieces of the True Cross. A tertiary
relic is 
something
associated with the saint but which has never touched
the saint, for
instance, a modern painting of the saint that weeps
tears of myrrh.

It gets a little more confusing when you talk about
academic sources. A
period painting of an object is a secondary source for
the object, but 
the
painting is a primary source for the techniques of
painting. So a 
source can
be primary in one context, and secondary in another.

To summarize the discussion of sources, do the best
you can. Get the 
best
sources you can find, and corroborate your sources by
finding other 
sources
that also verify the point you are making.

DOCUMENTATION STYLE
---------------------------------------

The other thing that scares people about documentation
is the Fear of
Documentation Style stricken into their hearts while
doing research 
papers
in school. Really, putting down a bibliographical
reference or a 
footnote is
simple. All should have the same basic elements:

AUTHOR. ARTICLE TITLE. BOOK TITLE. PLACE OF
PUBLICATION. PUBLISHING 
COMPANY.
DATE OF PUBLICATION. PAGE ON WHICH THE INFO IS FOUND.

The exact punctuation and presentation of this
material doesn't matter, 
so
long as it's all present. The idea is to make it
possible for the 
interested
reader to track down your sources and read more about
your topic.

Still, it is a good idea to use a Style Guide to make
sure that you are
getting all the data down that you need, and that you
are presenting 
the
documentation consistently. I recommend that you get a
style guide (you 
can
buy them cheap as used books from Half Price Books or
from College
bookstores, and now you can even find the info on the
Web) and always 
use
it. Some common style guides are:

* Kate Turabian. "A Manual of Style" (a subset of the
Chicago Manual of
Style)

* Chicago Manual of Style (used widely by newspapers
and book 
publishers)

* The Modern Language Association (MLA) Manual of
Style (used widely in 
the
humanities)

* The American Psychology Association (APA) Style
Guide (used widely in 
the
sciences)

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION
---------------------------------------

The most valuable additional documentation that you
can add would be
pictures of the medieval examples that inspired the
current work. 
People
will almost always look at pictures.

If you have done additional in-depth documentation, go
ahead and write 
it up
and include it. Place at the top of the first page a
clearly marked
"DOCUMENTATION SUMMARY" section, and keep that to one
good-sized 
paragraph.
Follow that then with "ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION" and
then continue with 
the
rest of your paper. Everybody will at least glance at
the summary info, 
and
those who have a real interest will be more likely to
read the whole 
thing.

Additional supporting materials, such as xerox copies
etc. can be added 
at
the back.

If you put together 5 or more pages of documentation,
seriously 
consider
converting your long-form documentation into an
article for Tournaments
Illuminated. One thing we expect of Laurel candidates
is that they have
proved themselves to be teachers -- and a T.I. article
teaches 
thousands of
people across the Known World. If you have a really
long piece of 
research,
consider Compleat Anachronist instead.

PRESENTATION OF DOCUMENTATION
---------------------------------------

As has already been mentioned, it is a good idea to
place the 
bare-bones
documentation basics on a 5x8 index card and place
that right next to 
your
A&S entry.

The written information is best kept together in a
ring binder. Some of 
the
best documentation I've seen is placed inside the
clear acrylic 
sleeves, and
the sections are separated by tabs for easy reference.
A notebook like 
this
can be quite valuable, as you don't have to reinvent
the wheel (or your
documentation) for every A&S event you enter. Keep all
your A&S
Documentation, you can never tell when you might need
it again.

Provide a table of contents at the front, and number
or label the 
dividing
tabs so that people can find the specific
documentation that they want.

If you have a whole ringbinder full of many many
documentation 
articles, you
may want to use a two notebook system, -- a larger
notebook in which to
store your entire collection of documentation, and a
smaller notebook
containing only the documentation for the work(s)
being displayed at 
the
current event. Otherwise you may need to clearly
divide the notebook 
into
sections "Works Being Shown Today" and "Past
Documentation."

CONCLUSION
---------------------------------------

The most important rule of thumb is: don't confuse,
bore, or attempt to
bamboozle the judges. The KISS principle applies to
documentation (Keep 
It
Simple, Stupid) - get the basics explained up front,
show what you did 
and
how you did it honestly, and document the information
by showing your
sources. Documentation isn't really all that hard, and
can be quite fun 
if
you approach it with the proper attitude.

::GUNNORA::

Gunnora Hallakarve, OL


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