Research

[Bob A]

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

What does it mean to collect?

Does it mean to pile a lot of weapons together, asking others about them - age or place of origin, and doing nothing yourself?

Or does it mean to ask others, and at the same time research the items yourself?

Being on a forum will mean, that you will be willing to share, at least some of your reaserch with the other members.

Earlier - years ago - there was a lot of different researches shared, but lately it seems as if the questions are more commen - why is that?

Jens

The internet has changed the face of collecting, and in fact made it both simpler and more complicated.

Definition: to collect
transitive verb
1
a : to bring together into one body or place
b : to gather or exact from a number of persons or sources <collect taxes>
c : to gather an accumulation of (objects) especially as a hobby <collects stamps>
2
: infer, deduce

I have been an inveterate collector since childhood. However, the scope and direction of my collecting has been increased by several orders of magnitude by internet access. It would literally have been impossible for me to locate and purchase a fraction of what I have, under the circumstances that prevailed when I was a child, six decades ago.

Jens' questions have a range of answers, of course, and they fit well with the dictionary definitions; in fact, it's surprising to see how the two definitions seem to apply to the arc of collection.

First of course must be the interest, soon followed by the amassing of data, in the form of the objects collected. Initially the focus is broad and uninformed.

Information about the collected objects follows, and is sought in different degrees according to the lights of the individual collector. It is hard to imagine anyone actually "collecting" by merely amassing objects; even the process of acquisition infers and requires gaining information. Asking others is in itself a process of research.

Collectors new to a field will gravitate toward sources of information like this site; in the olden times, a library would be involved, and lucky would be the collector who would have access to a fraction of what is available now, at a few keystrokes. For study in any depth, resources at the university level would probably have been necessary.

Sharing, or show-and-tell, takes on different forms depending on the experience of the collector. Simple questions from novices go far toward encouraging further and deeper exploration; examples from experienced collectors tend toward the erudite, and are welcomed by their peers and serve as examples to the novice.

The final question doubtless has a myriad of answers, but I would hazard a guess or two. The early appearance of this board brought together a group of experienced and knowledgeable students of the area of study; discussion flourished and topics of universal interest were researched and brought forth. This activity is not sustainable at such a level indefinitely, though it is probably cyclic. The fact that there now exists questioning at a lower level speaks to a broadening base of interest; new faces are finding the site, and the population of ethnographic weapons collectors is expanding.

I look on this as positive; I for one hope to learn much more about the objects I find of interest, and for those who have been in the game for a considerable period, this is an opportunity for their knowledge to be passed on.

I hope my attempt to answer the OP will not be taken as any sort of effrontery; the questions posed are worthy, and the various responses have thrown light on many facets of the nature of collecting, and the nature of research, and the nature of the personalities who form this assembly. As one who has limited exposure here, I trust my comments will be taken for what may be worthwhile within them.