[Sca-cooks] Documentation

[Terry Decker]

Do you know what you are talking about?  Can you prove that you actually 
researched something, rather than having made it up?  Those are the 
questions that documentation answers.  Admittedly, the SCA is looser that 
academia, but we are supposedly into education, so documentation is nice. 
Documentation can also provide a more permanent record of one's work and a 
more lasting effect on future research.

Even a list of sources used in preparing a project would be nice because it 
gives me something to verify the work against.  Bad writing I can work with.

Unlike school, nothing says the artisan has to be the one to write the paper 
or even do the research for the project (although it is nice to credit the 
work).  My wife has written several articles over the years for which I tend 
to be editor, photographer and sounding board.  She does the research and 
writes down her thoughts in order and I prepare it for publication.  In the 
real world, it's not cheating to seek assistance.

Writing a paper may not be an enjoyable activity but it is a useful one. 
Even a brief paragraph of where one found the inspiration is useful and 
certainly within the capacity of most people.  Don't think you have to write 
a monograph with footnotes, bibliography and index to be a success.

Bear

> Yes, for some people, writing a paper is a bad memory come back to haunt
> you.  Keep in mind that not everybody had a good school experience, and 
> all
> too often, someone brings up a paper and ends up shamed or ridiculed by 
> the
> teacher.  Some just felt devalued as students.  So I can see writing a
> paper being a problem.
>
>> a paper, so why bother?) >>>
>>
>> Writing a paper on it would take away the enjoyment of the activity?
>>
>> Stefan
>>
> -- 
> Ian of Oertha