Doumentation was SC - Sources, not sauces the Documentation

[lilinah at grin.net]

Gwen Catrin wrote:
> <snip> I would be interested in
>the Lists <snip> take on a local situation.  I have seen it suggested
>(strongly) that documentation for any given A&S entry be NO MORE than 1
>(one) page (8 1/2 x 11" or A4 format) and I have heard some talk (though
>have not gotten this confirmed) that a 3x5 index card is preferred by some
>judges.
>
>I have had judges tell me I have too much stuff for them to read. Now I
>have a preference for giving detailed documentation... <snip>

A similar question came up not too long ago on the SCA-Garb list. There
were several suggestions made by people who have judged competitions in
several different regions, which i'm condensing below. Besides a small
amount of editing, i have removed names and e-mail addresses because list
policies sometimes prohibit forwarding messages around. If you'd like the
complete thread, i can send it privately.

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Poster Number One said:
When I was asked to teach a class on documentation for competition at the
baronial and kingdom level earlier this year, I think I told people to use 3
sources whenever possible.  I never considered how much information that
might potentially amount to.  We're usually just happy that someone took the
effort to document anything locally and even the kingdom level competitions
don't seem to suffer from an excess of documentation.  Having too much
documentation has rarely been a problem in any of the competitions I've
entered or judged.

If I were judging a competition with such extensive documentation, I believe
I would like to see a section of documentation with one example for each
major point or group of points where they can be combined and a second
section with more information such as more slides or more detailed
information on the points.  That's still going to be a lot of information to
go over when pressed for time, but it will show that you know your subject
without completely overwhelming your judges.  Grouping your points into
major categories will help to provide focus for your judges.  It might also
allow you to focus your documentation on those points which are the most
interesting or most unusual or that allowed you to develop the most skill to
achieve.  That can help to reduce the amount of documentation to a more
manageable quantity.  Also, provide a small summary with perhaps one or two
important slides for judges that just don't have the time or inclination to
delve more deeply into your documentation.  Sadly even when one wishes to
spend the afternoon on just one piece, there is rarely the time.  If
possible, you might try to remain on hand during the judging to answer
questions and to direct the judges to the additional slides if necessary.

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Poster Number Two said:

                                         Write a one page piece that
includes Who,
What, When, Where, & How.  If you deviated from period practice,
technique, or materials, mention it briefly and discuss why you chose to
do so.  Make sure that this is brief and to the point.  The first page
is all that most people will ever read, and you want to cover all the
bases before they get bored and stop reading.  Underneath that first
page, be as thorough as you have the time and patience to be.  I'd
include all of your examples.  If your piece is as well researched as it
seems to be, you might want to add an index page for easier reference.
Slap on a bibliography at the end, and you will have documentation to
suit both the most exacting judge and the one that doesn't want to spend
the next hour reading your docs.

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Poster Number Three said:
I was also going to suggest a first section, with additional available.  It
might be helpful to make an outline, with subsidiary documentation points
under the main headings, and the basic item title in brackets  [i.e., 1)
Evans, Joan, p. 98. 2) Ghirlandaio, Dimenico, fresco;] etc.  If that is the
first section of your documentation booklet--because I think that's what
it will turn out to be--then the judges in a hurry can scan the outline and
see you know your stuff.  Those that don't recognize the documentation
from their own studies will be able to look up what they need to.

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Poster Number Four said:
I haven't judged garb in kingdom level competition, but I have judged a
couple of other fields, so here's my take on "How much documentation is
too much documentation?"

Too little documentation is pretty easy:  the ceramic goblet whose
documentation consisted of an e-mail from the creator's friend saying "Yes,
I think they used blue glazes in period" was underdocumented.

The ceramic platter with little trompe l'oeil frogs and pond plants was
missing the key element in its documentation:  a picture of the original.  It
had excellent descriptions of the style and a good narrative of how the piece
was made, but we had no clear idea if it looked like it was supposed to.

The other ceramic platter with the Chinese celadon glaze had too much
documentation.  The potter had inclued photocopied dictionary pages with the
definitions of terms like "stoneware" and "glaze" as well as photocopies of
several pages from college-level texts on Chinese art, history of ceramics and
methodology for creating  Chinese-style clays and glazes.  Altogether, the
documentation totaled about 50 pages.

The problem was, the judges had less than 10 minutes to look at each piece in
the competition.

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I hope this is of some vague help. As someone new and still wet behind the
ears, i haven't entered, let along judged, an A&S competition, but i have
vague ideas about doing so some day. I'm not sure how things stand where i
live (West/Mists/Mists) regarding the knowledgeablity of judges. There are
judged cooking competitions out here, too (sheesh, i'm so new i forget if
it's "Silver Spoon" or "Wooden Spoon").

Anahita Gaouri bint-Karim al-Fassi


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