Uncluttering my antiquities into the digital age

I decided to devote this week to digitizing.

 I’m never actually disorganised – I can usually locate a single volume amidst 3000+ books and I know what is in my three filing  cabinets – but in a digital age, is all this paper really necessary? 

Sometimes just the sheer volume of paper is overwhelming, and I revisit notes, trawling through my scratchings  instead of moving on confident that I have already captured some essence.

I have been building a digital system for several years, but not in a sustained way  –  this week I think I crossed the Rubicon. An academic entrenched in the past does not need to live in that forest of paper trails.

I’m not sure who will be interested in reading this blog, because you may not have the massive volume of data to cope with. But uncluttering is becoming an art form – there are personal trainers in the field. While Marie Kondo and the other Japanese experts are dealing with designer wardrobes, I have books, journal articles, notebooks, archival documents such as newspaper clippings, wills, company data, census data, etc…by the ton.  Getting bits of paper organized is worth the effort, and I thank the other bloggers who have helped me on my way.
http://www.elizabethcovart.com/work-flow-organize-research-writing/
 https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/41711738 

Gall, Wormwood and the Jewish mother

There may be Jewish Feminists but they do not represent Jewry. Feminism will never cross the Jewish threshold. It is gall and wormwood to the Jewish mother. Percy Cohen  (1904) Jews and feminism, The Westminster Review (October, p462)

The old motherhood statements are probably worth examining. They popped up again after Brexit, when the quantity of a woman’s progeny was touted as a quality for the new PM. I am a bit of an expert on this subject, in fact, by some standards I am a top candidate for British Prime Minister as I am currently bringing up my ninth (and absolutely final child…although I have said that on two previous occasions), That is a lot of kids by any standard.

 Please bear in mind that the majority were accidental, non-biological, and some were shorter term than others, but for most of my adult I have been cooking and cleaning up after 2-5 kids – the current ones are aged 17 and 25 so not children – living in my house.

Sabbatical Report. Zangwill The Jewish Dickens and feminist.

There were some men who set out to empower women, whether it was their daughters, wives or friends.  Israel Zangwill is one of them. His name never gets a knowing nod these days. But he had an unforgettable profile, and a  long lean shape, perfect for caricature.

 Pacifist, Zionist, author, he was a convinced feminist at the fin-de-siecle, but his endorsement of feminist causes was not merely a polite nod to emerging ideas. He did everything with consuming commitment. It cost him his reputation and respectability in some circles.
Meri-Jane Rochelson has written a meticulous account of Zangwill's journey into women's suffrage in Jewish Culture and History (1999) and she is the avowed expert on Zangwill himself. Her book devoted to the man came out in 2010: Zangwill, a Jew in the Public Arena.

The Sabbatical Report - Speaking up

Cherishing illusory notions – they talk about emancipation when all they mean…is that women should…neglect her special functions in order to undertake responsibilities foreign to her whole nature (1904, Cohen, P. Jews and Feminism, The Westminster Review)

Speaking up most unnaturally

 

Research is a lot like knitting – you get so absorbed in the colourful threads that are coming together that you hardly realise it has taken on a life of its own.

At least, that’s how I knit and do research. The last jumper I made for my son Gabe is now being unraveled and re knitted because it was just too, too big. Many other people are far more disciplined. They learned to color within the lines, or make sure their swatches are accurate!

Please note that in the first two paragraphs I have managed to refer to domestic matters, because I do not want to be regarded as unnatural by Percy Cohen (quoted above). Here comes the emancipated female academic talking about her research…