CCBC-Net Archives
Documentation
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: jomalley at caruspub.com <jomalley>
Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 16:44:51 -0600
Because both Elizabeth Partridge's and Mary Lyon's posts get at the heart of the Scylla and Charybdis-like passage between documentation and accessibility that honest works of narrative fiction face, and knowing that Marc Aronson had been spending the last two weeks working on his next YA nonfiction work, I forwarded this conversation to him, and Marc has asked me to post this response for him. (He really does promise to re-join ccbc-net.)
Judy O'Malley
From Marc Aronson:
I've just finished working on the notes for my next book, on John Winthrop and Oliver Cromwell and, much as Mary Lyons suggests, all of the books and sites I mention are oriented towards adults, even graduate students and specialists. That certainly does mean few kids will consult those books
(perhaps a few more will sample the web sites). But I still think there is a great value in letting kids know how you know what you know. The point is not just to list works, in that sense Mary is right, just because I say I got fact X from source Y does not tell anyone anything. But if I then use the note to explain what it is about source Y that is valuable, or how it might be treated with caution, or what it has to offer the potential reader or researcher, then I am letting a reader into the research process. And that then tells the young reader something of how s/he should work. Not that the reader needs to follow my steps, but that she should read one book against another, should be aware that an older book might have X,Y,Z problems, an encyclopedia is useful but limited, a paper written by an advocate or a particular point of view has neat details, but should be read carefully.
Notes, it seems to me, are the diary of a research process, they give you the chance to show how you engaged with, how you thought with, your sources. It is a gift to offer that to young readers -- especially those who are drawn to your field. Remember, in high school at least, many young people are taking AP courses, they are already doing college level work. Why should we hide from them our college-level thinking? Notes are an act of generosity, a chance to share.
And when you are doing original research, there often are no good children's books that you can cite. I don't see the point of directing kids to books that will be less useful to them then yours.
Finally on the matter of historical dispute: it is easy to be facil about this, but the fact that authorities disagree is great. Knowledge is a process, each day we have new computer chips, new theories on El Nino, new data on cold, dark, matter, new ideas of why the Russian Revolution turned out to be such a disaster. By showing kids that knowledge is not set, but is a result of constant examination and discussion we tell them that they matter. There is a conversation going on, not a lecture, and we want to them be able to join it, and contribute to it. Our notes tell them what the adults are talking about, our books give them a more accessible version of that dialog. Why would we want to deny them that chance?
Marc Aronson
Received on Thu 02 Jan 2003 04:44:51 PM CST
Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 16:44:51 -0600
Because both Elizabeth Partridge's and Mary Lyon's posts get at the heart of the Scylla and Charybdis-like passage between documentation and accessibility that honest works of narrative fiction face, and knowing that Marc Aronson had been spending the last two weeks working on his next YA nonfiction work, I forwarded this conversation to him, and Marc has asked me to post this response for him. (He really does promise to re-join ccbc-net.)
Judy O'Malley
From Marc Aronson:
I've just finished working on the notes for my next book, on John Winthrop and Oliver Cromwell and, much as Mary Lyons suggests, all of the books and sites I mention are oriented towards adults, even graduate students and specialists. That certainly does mean few kids will consult those books
(perhaps a few more will sample the web sites). But I still think there is a great value in letting kids know how you know what you know. The point is not just to list works, in that sense Mary is right, just because I say I got fact X from source Y does not tell anyone anything. But if I then use the note to explain what it is about source Y that is valuable, or how it might be treated with caution, or what it has to offer the potential reader or researcher, then I am letting a reader into the research process. And that then tells the young reader something of how s/he should work. Not that the reader needs to follow my steps, but that she should read one book against another, should be aware that an older book might have X,Y,Z problems, an encyclopedia is useful but limited, a paper written by an advocate or a particular point of view has neat details, but should be read carefully.
Notes, it seems to me, are the diary of a research process, they give you the chance to show how you engaged with, how you thought with, your sources. It is a gift to offer that to young readers -- especially those who are drawn to your field. Remember, in high school at least, many young people are taking AP courses, they are already doing college level work. Why should we hide from them our college-level thinking? Notes are an act of generosity, a chance to share.
And when you are doing original research, there often are no good children's books that you can cite. I don't see the point of directing kids to books that will be less useful to them then yours.
Finally on the matter of historical dispute: it is easy to be facil about this, but the fact that authorities disagree is great. Knowledge is a process, each day we have new computer chips, new theories on El Nino, new data on cold, dark, matter, new ideas of why the Russian Revolution turned out to be such a disaster. By showing kids that knowledge is not set, but is a result of constant examination and discussion we tell them that they matter. There is a conversation going on, not a lecture, and we want to them be able to join it, and contribute to it. Our notes tell them what the adults are talking about, our books give them a more accessible version of that dialog. Why would we want to deny them that chance?
Marc Aronson
Received on Thu 02 Jan 2003 04:44:51 PM CST
