by Midnight Freemason Contributor
By Steven L.
Harrison, 33°, FMLR
Sometimes
when I'm researching Masonic articles I think back to how I did that kind of
research in college. Today, most of my
research is done sitting in my living room, feet back, staring at a computer
screen. Back in the day, to use the
trite and overused aphorism, doing
research for a paper meant a trip to the library... several trips usually. We were taught to keep our research notes on
3 x 5 cards, alphabetized or otherwise organized. This, so the researcher could move the cards
to various sections of information and eventually have an incredibly
well-organized way of not being able to find what he was looking for. I found this method especially effective at
3AM on mornings before the aforementioned paper was due.
Today,
it's all online — most of it, anyway. I
still use the library a lot. It's more
than a source of books. The videos there
as well as microfilm copies of old newspapers really come in handy. However, I think it's safe to say with
anything I write now, the article begins with an online search. I almost always just start with Google. Not to slight the other search engines, but
let's face it, Google is the gold standard.
It's almost safe to say, if you've used a computer you've used
Google. But this isn't about Google.
Another
source I use is Wikipedia. Wikipedia and
I have a strained relationship.
According to my wife's soap opera, relationships are built on trust, and
I don't trust Wikipedia. I think it's a
great resource and I'm amazed at some of the things I find there, but any Tom,
Dick or Harry — or Steve — can put anything in it, so if I find something I
want to use in an article there, my rule is I always require corroboration
somewhere else. But this isn't about
Wikipedia.
"Well,"
you might ask, "what the heck is it about?" Lately, I've been making more and more use of
Google Books. So, yeah, the Google Books
project is a part of Google, but it's in large part directed to full texts of
books Google has scanned into a database.
That makes the books searchable. Within limits, with the permission of
authors and publishers, this even includes books still under copyright.
At
the moment, I'm deep into research for my next book. As a part of that I'm looking back at the
Baltimore Convention of 1843 — what it accomplished, what it didn't and why it
was deemed necessary. In a search of
Google Books I turned up a volume on the history of Freemasonry in New York
with a section that talked about a whole new — make that forgotten — reason the
conference came about. I'm preparing
another Midnight Freemasons piece to discuss that but, for the time being, what
a find in an obscure 19th century book.
I
think Google Books is great even for contemporary literature, just to search
for content, but it's even better for Masonic research, since (in case they
hadn't told you) Masonry has been around a long time and many of those books
are in the public domain. There are
advantages to being old.
I'm
not touting Google books as a panacea, but it is another tool in the
arsenal. Even if you don't do a lot of
Masonic research, it might lead you to that next book you want to read, even if
it's not about Masonry. And it's a heck
of a lot better than keeping notes on those 3 x 5 cards.
~SLH
I totally Agree with you bro.
ReplyDeleteLately, I've been to do a research of the evolve of Mexican masonry, that unlike the US 99% of their loges works the first three degrees of Scottish Rite and still heavily influenced by the Supreme Council, also is notorious the lack of written information through the years. So I've been relying on the proceedings of US Grand Lodges, many of which many are in google books
I have to say when it comes to very old books Google hase made me save hundreds of dollars.
Fraternally,
Omar Chávez
Onion Creek #220, GLoTexas
Monterrey #13, York GLo Mexico