Challenge

I had set myself an assignment today: I would look up articles by scholars in fields related to my own, and see which journals they tended to publish in. (Litmaps is a very useful way of looking up scholarship in related fields to one’s own:- https://www.litmaps.com/ )

Then I would look up the journals and see what their acceptance rate was, and note any other useful metrics. Sometimes it’s a good idea to take a step back from the detail of one’s research, and think about where it might ultimately find a home! I rolled up my sleeves and got started. After a couple of hours of this, one tends to get a bit befuddled. But then …

I unexpectedly received an email from an unknown individual. Someone I did know had recommended me to help with a rather obscure query about Scottish songs. Maybe anyone else would have sensibly thought that they’d deal with it later when they had a minute, but my ex-librarian-brain kicked in before I could stop it, and within an hour or so, I had part-answered that query to the best of my ability. At that point, I remembered that I wasn’t a librarian any more, and wasn’t obliged to persist until I had exhausted every corner of the internet! I’d looked in the places where I’d normally go, so I thought I’d done a reasonable job.

Back I went to my task in hand. I found a useful website for making Venn diagrams, PresentationGo – it’s at www.Presentationgo.com – and came up with a beautiful little Venn diagram to remind myself what I was looking for. I made better progress than I had yesterday; and resumed the task after lunch.

By mid-afternoon, I was getting a bit weary – I didn’t get nearly enough sleep last night. I confess, I was close to nodding off at my laptop when the doorbell rang, bringing me sharply back to a more alert state. Two complete strangers stood outside, one apologetically introducing themselves with, ‘I’m afraid I have probably got the wrong address, but I’m looking for the Scottish Tramway … ‘

I laughed. ‘Oh no, you’ve got exactly the right place. Hold on, I’ll get Himself …’

You see, if my research interests seem obscure, then His all-consuming hobby interest – trams – is equally niche. And he’s heavily involved with an enthusiasts’ society. So I went and told Him he had visitors. He wasn’t expecting any; it turns out this is the first time anyone has actually, physically come to the door with their own unique research query about trams. It made his afternoon: he was quite enchanted, and very happy to oblige with possibly more information than his enquirers had dreamt of. Upstairs and down he went, pulling out useful copies of the society magazine and goodness knows what else. (I’m afraid I went straight back to my desk, wondering whether I’d be cooking tea at the normal time, or waiting for the Tram Advice Surgery to terminate.)

Who would have thought that a terraced house not far from the River Clyde would provide such a useful, if specialised advisory service?

Images by Dean Moriarty and Brigitte Werner from Pixabay