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Pages for the Student:
Index
Return to the MSS index page.
Don't depend on the Web!
While medievalists--people who study the Middle Ages--have been quick to
take advantage of the World Wide Web, the fact is that Medieval Studies has
been around for a long time as a college and university subject, and even longer
as something people were interested in. So a great part of the information available
about medieval subjects is in the form of printed media. You can find some interesting
and useful things on the Web--but depending on your subject, you may very well
find better information more easily by looking in good encyclopedias,
books, or even scholarly journals.
Interviewing is not the first step.
As a general rule, scholars (by which I mean college and university professors
and other folks who study some academic subject, like the Middle Ages) explain
the results of their work to other scholars (and anyone else who may be interested)
by giving lectures (often at large conferences, like the annual Medieval Congress
at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo), by publishing articles in journals
(specialized magazines that usually come out about once every three months,
and which libraries often bind together to make into books for the library shelves),
by writing books, and, often, by teaching classes. For that reason, a scholar
is likely to feel that he or she has said what he or she had to say in some
piece of writing, and may feel put out when asked a question like "Professor
Smith, I know that you have written a book about Saint Swithun. What can you
tell me about him?" What Professor Smith can tell about Saint Swithun
is presumably in the book, and the professor might possibly answer the question
by telling the questioner to go read it.
I know (having taught English for
a long time) that teachers who are trying to give their students a more general
sense of research than simply paraphrasing an encyclopedia will sometimes give
an assignment that requires the student to send a business letter to an expert
on a subject, either asking questions or requesting an interview. There are
some areas where that sort of assignment will work, but, as a general rule,
it will not work when the subject you are investigating is an academic
one. As a rule of thumb, if a person has published something on a subject
you are interested in, you should read that publication before you try to contact
the author.
Return to index for this page.
The Big Three: standard sites for medieval
research on the Web
-
 ORB
The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies, including
-
 The
Labyrinth A vast collection of medieval texts and resources (at
Georgetown University)
-
 NetSERF:
The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources (now a freestanding resource,
originally housed at The Catholic University of America)
Return to index for this page.
Our Top Fifteen
Arthur
- THE CAMELOT PROJECT
is designed to make available in electronic format a database of Arthurian
texts, images, bibliographies, and basic information. The project, begun in
1995, is sponsored by the University of Rochester and prepared in The Robbins
Library, a branch of Rush Rhees Library. The Camelot Project has been designed
by Alan Lupack, Curator of the Robbins Library, and Barbara Tepa Lupack.
- Arthuriana
on the Web Compiled by Norman Hinton (at ORB)
Castles
- Cathedrals
- Chaucer
- The Chaucer Meta-page
This project was initiated at the 33rd International Congress of Medieval
Studies by a group of medievalists interested in promoting Chaucer studies
on the WWW. Its aims are: to organize and provide navigation aides for Chaucer
resources on the WWW; to work towards enhancing and extending those resources;
and to encourage Chaucer studies, including those undertaken via "distance
learning," at all levels of education.
- Crusades
- The Crusades:
Eschatological lemmings, Younger sons, Papal hegemony and Colonialism by Jessalynn
Byrd (at ORB)
- Crusades: A Commentary
on the BBC Series By Paul Crawford (at ORB)
- Manuscripts & Illumination
- Medieval Studies for the Nonspecialist:
A Guide to Online Resources (at ORB), including Bibliography and FAQs
on Popular Medieval Figures and Issues, ed. Laura Blanchard
-
- Misconceptions
about the Middle Ages (at ORB)
- Richard III
- Robin Hood
- THE ROBIN HOOD
PROJECT is designed to make available in electronic format a database
of texts, images, bibliographies, and basic information about the Robin Hood
stories and other outlaw tales. The project is sponsored by the University
of Rochester and prepared in The Robbins Library, a branch of Rush Rhees Library.
The Robin Hood Project has been designed by Alan Lupack, Curator of the Robbins
Library, and Barbara Tepa Lupack.
- Technology
- The Medieval Technology
Pages are an attempt to provide accurate, referenced information on technological
innovation and related subjects in western Europe during the Middle Ages.
Maintained by Paul J. Gans, Department of Chemistry, New York University.
- Vikings
- The Viking Heritage
Organization Server and Database. The aims of Viking Heritage are: ° To
draw the attention of the general public to the common European cultural heritage
through an understanding of the history and travels of the Vikings worldwide,
and their fruitful collaboration with different peoples. ° To encourage the
preservation and enhanced understanding of the Viking period cultural heritage
as a source of social, economic and cultural development. ° To provide the
public with information and knowledge by according a special place to cultural
tourism or related practices across the Viking world.
- Scandinavia
and the Northern Seas: A Guide to Online Resources. Section Editor: Tamsin
Hekala (at ORB)
Return to index for this page.
Return to the MSS index page.
This page last revised on January 4, 2001.
The decorative motifs are from Eva Wilson, Early Medieval Designs from Britain
for Artists and Craftspeople, Dover Books, 1983. The Up Arrow is a heraldic
pheon, from the program Blazon, available through: The
British Heraldic Archive
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