I debated saving this for when I had a few more articles up, but considering all the writing I’ve done for all four articles, this should keep readers busy for a while. Yes, four articles of varying lengths, tinged with the flavor of academia. And there will be more. That’s a threat promise.
I proudly present Sporeshelf, my public research notebook. I’m not sponsored by anyone, nobody is paying me to keep it up, and there’s no institution to tell me I’m wasting my time with the information I collect. If I want to collect articles about fandom, I’ll do that. If I want to summarize books I’m reading, I’ll do that as well. If I want to cobble all the information together to write something new, you bet that’s going to happen.
Its main purpose is to show the public that research happens in many ways, and it isn’t always in a classroom or for a journal. It’s to encourage other researchers to make their processes visible to the public. It’s to embolden everyday people to keep writing, reading, and observing regardless of the degrees or letters they may (or may not) possess. It’s to help dismantle the ivory tower so information may flow more freely and pervasive misinformation and misunderstanding can be mitigated.
But I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s also to justify some of these articles I’ve been hoarding. Gotta keep myself busy after grad school ends. Idle hands and all that…