tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post2609923972576368486..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Electric Memories - Karen KingKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-73812345607147460062011-12-23T00:07:08.960+00:002011-12-23T00:07:08.960+00:00I'm in two minds about all this as well! I kno...I'm in two minds about all this as well! I know exactly what you mean about the loss of primary sources -and books are at risk too. I've watched in horror as our local university library ditched masses of interesting books, before they moved to a new campus - I know because some of them - wonderful books about costume - are now sitting on my shelves. But - asked if I might be interested in writing a play about Joanna Baillie, a few weeks ago (The answer was yes!) - and finding that she had written a large body of work in the early 1800s, I went to Amazon and found a bound photocopy of an invaluable old out-of-print book at a very reasonable price. I also downloaded an edition of her poems to my Kindle, for free, and was reading them within an hour of the enquiry coming in! I've tackled this kind of research before and used inter-library loans, but they take forever, and increasingly involve so much red tape that the Amazon option was definitely better. Also, I'm slightly cheered by the availability of letters, photographs, postcards and other documents on eBay. If you don't use it as a source for these kind of research materials, I can definitely recommend it. For instance, I run a constant search for this village and have managed to acquire letters and old postcards - and I've used it all the time for my Polish historical research, managing to acquire bits and pieces of documentation I would never have been able to find before. I think the primary sources are out there, and the new technology is making it easier for us to access them. But I entirely agree that since people no longer write letters (even love letters!) future generations may struggle.Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-40590426073942090572011-12-22T17:36:14.137+00:002011-12-22T17:36:14.137+00:00I hope, Anonymous, that you are right. The troubl...I hope, Anonymous, that you are right. The trouble is that once upon a time,if I wanted to find out important information for my books, I would get on the train with my British Library reader's ticket in my pocket and spend a couple of days with as near to primary sources as I could find. Now I sit lazily at my desk and fill my mind with second-hand, skimpy pieces of information from sketchy websites or Wikipedia. And I'm ashamed to say that now I live in Oxford and my application form for a Bodleian Reader's ticket STILL hasn't been signed by a responsible adult of standing whom I've known for at least two years. Yes, much is on the way to being lost but I fear an even more insidious threat is the inertia that IT in all its forms brings. Once, the quick fix now and again seemed all right. But now it's taking over and people like me who should know a lot, lot better are blindly allowing themselves to be suffocated by it.<br /> Oh, if only I had met a professor in 2009 who possesses a nice fountain pen and a legible signature. But perhaps I did and I've forgotten. I must trawl my memory so I can go down to the other end of Broad Street and get among the primary sources again.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-82020260730985340172011-12-20T20:42:08.862+00:002011-12-20T20:42:08.862+00:00Hi Ann, yes I'm tracing my family tree too, th...Hi Ann, yes I'm tracing my family tree too, that's what made me think about this. If technology fails then what are we left with?Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11716058361689251073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-41028013982910681542011-12-20T20:41:04.731+00:002011-12-20T20:41:04.731+00:00I've changed the name Karen B, didn't real...I've changed the name Karen B, didn't realise it was posted under the wrong name! It wasn't my doing, honest!Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11716058361689251073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33320728059173299752011-12-20T16:31:31.656+00:002011-12-20T16:31:31.656+00:00Interesting post, Karen. Been trying to trace my f...Interesting post, Karen. Been trying to trace my family history, and was thinking that it'll be easy for our descendants to trace the lives of the present generation, what with Google, Facebook, websites, blogs etc., but you're right, if technology failed us, there would be very few actual physical memories in the way of letters, diaries and proper photographs.Ann Evanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09310566139408774783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-63986666749260653282011-12-20T12:59:15.050+00:002011-12-20T12:59:15.050+00:00Eeeek! Not my post! Someone hasn't had the rig...Eeeek! Not my post! Someone hasn't had the right credit for this in the heading!madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-83603500073765778452011-12-19T21:58:32.889+00:002011-12-19T21:58:32.889+00:00I hope you're right, much as I love new techno...I hope you're right, much as I love new technology I'd hate all the traditional skills to die out.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11716058361689251073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-32839843575049189932011-12-19T21:35:11.690+00:002011-12-19T21:35:11.690+00:00Interesting post. I think as things get more elect...Interesting post. I think as things get more electrical, people will revert back to the old ways because they are more permanent, special and traditional. The more disposable fashion becomes, the more I see sewing magazines and knitting groups, and the more we send emails the more I hear people say they want to get a letter-writing set. I think and hope that our old skills of communication won't be forgetten.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com