I love books, which is why my favorite bookstore closing was such a big deal.

I buy books or borrow them from everywhere. Books and research are part of the SCA‘s attraction to me.

Bookstore Search

When I first joined the SCA, 26 years ago, I spent hours at the library each week. Then took a  stack off books home. 

I spent money copying them or used the copier at work. I didn’t want to loose any precious information nuggets.

When the internet first developed I was in heaven. I found tons more SCA related info. I learned to distinguish website gold from fool’s gold. 

(Not all information on the internet is real gold, but books and journals are that way too.)

If I found gold I saved the info nugget to something. Floppy disc, DVD, thumb drive. It’s only been the last few years I didn’t also print a copy on paper, too. (I have a metal filing cabinet just for SCA papers.)

Lately, I no longer have a membership to our college library or interlibrary loan books. Scribal image resources are readily available on-line.

My Current Research Spot

I no longer check out ten tomes of the best medieval manuscripts in the world. The Duc de Berry or Book of Kells facsimiles. 

I now find the images from over sea libraries while reclining on my couch. But, I also find the lesser quality medieval manuscripts. Unfinished illuminations that seldom made it into books. 

There’s also full medieval pages with text-only, allowing me to see an average scribe’s work. Not just genius talents. 

There’s also common place books, a physicians’ cheat sheet, and legal notes. A common man’s prayer roll rather than a Kings.

Today, the gold ingot scribal how-to source is now Youtube videos, an artist’s website like Randy Asplund, or a retailer’s information article blog like Natural Pigments. You can learn so much from the best of them!

All this has made scribal research and learning easier. There isn’t the same chase, hunting down the missing translated text needed to make my competition documentation whole. Or the last detail for a class handout.

Passing time changes things. Research is easier. More relevant information is available. And you can mine medieval information gold nuggets with your computer for your recreation, documentation, or class handout. All from the comfort of your home.