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Archiver > Huguenot > 2000-05 > 0957795652


From: Elizabeth Russo <>
Subject: Re: [Huguenot] Re: Researching in Charleston, Part IV
Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 10:20:52 -0400


Hi Frost,

I don't know about anyone else, but the servers must be a little
capricious with the virus scares--why else am I getting some mail days
later?

Anyway, thank you, Frost, for the kind words. About that "deeper
research"--I was a happy data collector for my first two years on this
list. Then my unwieldy 68 mg FTM file started giving me real problems,
resulting in two major losses of data. Then I simply got overwhelmed by
the numbers of emails I was getting and I just couldn't keep up with all
the questions prompted by the database. Then I really examined my
closest lines and realized that serious research had not really been
performed on them--just some rough outlines of trees which, while
appearing in a journal or two, were a little lacking in documentation.
I had come to admire the really serious scholarship occurring in some of
the journals I'd reviewed, plus a stint on the Dutch-Colonies list got
me walking the straight and narrow in terms of passing along documented
data on lists. I kept checking out Elizabeth Shown Mills' book
"Evidence" from the library [I finally bought it] and decided her
standards for documentation were ones I wanted to adopt. After a while,
I realized the time and money I was spending on such research was such
that I was acting like I was in pursuit of another advanced degree
[something I don't need, thank you. More than enough junk to go on my
walls by now. Although I guess added letters to the ends of some folks'
names impresses someone out there...just not me.]

So, I decided to quit collecting, and start the serious research.

Doing that level of research requires a necessary pruning of data
collection to all but the most direct lines. But while looking at my
own direct lines, I do keep bumping into everyone else's info. So I try
to pass it along. I am inspired by Betty Dunn [Maryd] in that
department.

I'd probably still be just collecting data were it not for wanting to
eventually publish some articles or a book or two or three. And in
going public in respected journals or books, I wish to live up not only
to their standards, but the ones in which I was trained in grad school
and in my professional life, and the ones I've set for myself.

But if I quit having fun in the process, I'll either quit altogether, or
go back to happy-go-lucky data collection. I sorely miss JBS and his
attitude on that score...

E

"H. Frost Prioleau" wrote:
...
> I realize that you, and probably other listers, do much deeper
> research than I. For some years, I have been adding to my computer
> files research done by others. Maybe I am more of a "linker" or
> "recorder" than a "researcher". I recall our unsubscribed champion
> lister, Jean-Benedict de Saussure, once described himself that way!
....

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