Research

kahnjar1 · 26th July 2015, 06:27 AM

As a collector currently of (mainly) Islamic arms.....(My collecting has been thru many changes over the years)......I have found this Forum a mine of information which is not generally available from other collectors in the region where I live. Added to that is a small but useful library of related books.
My research is certainly more basic than some, but I do like to find out as much information as possible about any item I have in my collection.
Sometimes a post querying an item meets with silence even though the post has been viewed many times. I am not entirely sure why this is.....lack of interest?......not sure about that, otherwise why would one bother to view? Perhaps the viewer does not think that the information he has is valuable.
I believe that in this game, ALL information is valuable, as it raises discussion, and that is how results are achieved IMHO.
Also I am more than well aware that there are no experts out there. We are all still learning, and need to analyse the information coming our way, to sort out fact from fiction. Don't be afraid to publish your thoughts please.

A word to the young and up coming collectors.....PLEASE, PLEASE glean all the information that you can now, as many of those who post here, myself included, are probably getting on in years, and unless the information is passed on now, it will be gone for ever. If you have questions, ask them now.
Stu

A. G. Maisey · 26th July 2015, 09:02 AM

"show & tell" is a catchy little phrase that many, if not most, people couple with junior school. This is probably an accurate alignment of ideas, but my use of it in my earlier post does not imply any denigration at any level.

If S&T is what people want to do and want to see, it has its own value.

I've spent in excess of 60 years in keris study, both field work and looking at the work of other people. It would be reasonable to assume I know a little bit about keris, and yes, I do, but really only Javanese keris, and Balinese keris in so far as they impact on Javanese keris. The stream of "show & tell' items that I meet with in this forum assist my knowledge of keris types of which I have only slight knowledge.

So:- nothing wrong with S&T.

But it would be really nice if we could sometimes see a few more perceptive questions, or well stated disagreements.

As David has written:- "--- asking the right questions can be almost as valuable as providing the right answers---"

The foundations of my profession rest upon the construction of questions that will provide the "right answers". I'm an auditor. Constructing the right question can be incredibly difficult. I've struggled frequently in trying to get a question just exactly right. Questions are not easy, they can be extraordinarily difficult to frame. But it would be nice to see a few piercing questions in our Forums, from time to time.

Some months ago I published an article that looked at areas of Javanese keris knowledge that had never been previously touched upon. I expected that it would generate a storm of disagreement and protest. It has now been read by a good cross section of keris conscious people. I have yet to hear anything except nice, friendly compliments. It is a trimmed down version of my original article, and because of this, I , myself, can find holes in it. But it seems nobody else can. To me, this is disappointing.

Thus, when Ian suggests that we write articles so that those articles can generate discussion, I am not really convinced that too many people are prepared to read, think, and question. I feel that most people read for entertainment only.

carlos · 26th July 2015, 09:21 AM

Sometimes the research is very difficult by the language. The most information in books and in web is in english. My level of english is low. To me is more easy read than write.
I try to contribute to forum sharing my pieces and sometimes I tried to answer some post.
I,m very happy to be a forum member. The forum and some books are my main research.
Thanks
Carlos

26th July 2015, 06:27 AM	#1
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,789	As a collector currently of (mainly) Islamic arms.....(My collecting has been thru many changes over the years)......I have found this Forum a mine of information which is not generally available from other collectors in the region where I live. Added to that is a small but useful library of related books. My research is certainly more basic than some, but I do like to find out as much information as possible about any item I have in my collection. Sometimes a post querying an item meets with silence even though the post has been viewed many times. I am not entirely sure why this is.....lack of interest?......not sure about that, otherwise why would one bother to view? Perhaps the viewer does not think that the information he has is valuable. I believe that in this game, ALL information is valuable, as it raises discussion, and that is how results are achieved IMHO. Also I am more than well aware that there are no experts out there. We are all still learning, and need to analyse the information coming our way, to sort out fact from fiction. Don't be afraid to publish your thoughts please. A word to the young and up coming collectors.....PLEASE, PLEASE glean all the information that you can now, as many of those who post here, myself included, are probably getting on in years, and unless the information is passed on now, it will be gone for ever. If you have questions, ask them now. Stu

26th July 2015, 09:02 AM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	"show & tell" is a catchy little phrase that many, if not most, people couple with junior school. This is probably an accurate alignment of ideas, but my use of it in my earlier post does not imply any denigration at any level. If S&T is what people want to do and want to see, it has its own value. I've spent in excess of 60 years in keris study, both field work and looking at the work of other people. It would be reasonable to assume I know a little bit about keris, and yes, I do, but really only Javanese keris, and Balinese keris in so far as they impact on Javanese keris. The stream of "show & tell' items that I meet with in this forum assist my knowledge of keris types of which I have only slight knowledge. So:- nothing wrong with S&T. But it would be really nice if we could sometimes see a few more perceptive questions, or well stated disagreements. As David has written:- "--- asking the right questions can be almost as valuable as providing the right answers---" The foundations of my profession rest upon the construction of questions that will provide the "right answers". I'm an auditor. Constructing the right question can be incredibly difficult. I've struggled frequently in trying to get a question just exactly right. Questions are not easy, they can be extraordinarily difficult to frame. But it would be nice to see a few piercing questions in our Forums, from time to time. Some months ago I published an article that looked at areas of Javanese keris knowledge that had never been previously touched upon. I expected that it would generate a storm of disagreement and protest. It has now been read by a good cross section of keris conscious people. I have yet to hear anything except nice, friendly compliments. It is a trimmed down version of my original article, and because of this, I , myself, can find holes in it. But it seems nobody else can. To me, this is disappointing. Thus, when Ian suggests that we write articles so that those articles can generate discussion, I am not really convinced that too many people are prepared to read, think, and question. I feel that most people read for entertainment only.

26th July 2015, 09:21 AM	#3
carlos Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 751	Sometimes the research is very difficult by the language. The most information in books and in web is in english. My level of english is low. To me is more easy read than write. I try to contribute to forum sharing my pieces and sometimes I tried to answer some post. I,m very happy to be a forum member. The forum and some books are my main research. Thanks Carlos