Wednesday, August 17, 2005

So, WHY do I love research?

Some of you who don't know me may be wondering about the title of my blog.

It's simple, really. I'm a research nut. Yep, can't help it. Have no idea where this comes from, but I love researching almost as much as I love writing. Sometimes more!

How did this happen? Couldn't tell you. Only remember being in love with finding things out since I was a wee one. Spent a lot of my time poking around the books in the school library, then moved onto the university ones in our town (there are two good research libraries here).

It's both a challenge and a thrill. Nothing feels better than going searching for a fact, digging through tons of material then finding it. I can lose myself for hours in a library or archives. Really, I'm not kidding. The time just flies by and only when my stomach growls and the sun begins its final daily descent do I clue to the fact it's time to go home.

I love pawing through books and documents, poring over details and images, following leads from one source to the next. One of my best research experiences was finding out that the local uni archives had acquired the research notes of medievalist Margaret Wade Labarge. Yep, I got to see ALL her notes. Spent several days there, days I barely remember now, though I took copious notes. My eyes were really sore by the end of that experience *g*. But it was worth it.

Hmm, still not sure I've explained WHY I love research. Other than it's something I've always done, something that comes naturally to me (unlike, say, MATH!) - the drive for knowledge.

So, do YOU enjoy research? Or see it as a necessary evil for writing?

Teresa

5 comments:

Rene said...

I love research. Sometimes I get so into research I forget to write. *g*

Tess said...

Me too *vbg*. We're such geeks!

Miss Rhoadie said...

I love research too, I'm a research assistant actually and I look forward to becoming a researcher.

aman said...

I do wish to be a researcher, but I feel research is much about innovation and not just about searching books.

Comments welcome.

infosearch.no said...

Your posting is very difficult to read. have you considered to use other colours?