When I was a grad student, I wondered why most of the best scholarship on Roman equipment/material culture was done in Europe and much less in the USA. I think museum access is a big factor, but also so much is published in small-run books that are very hard to get over here.
I've never had anything I couldn't get - being affiliated with UNC means having the Davis Library's ILB team (♥️ @UNCLibrary ) and they are magicians.
But in terms of research time, there's a big difference between "we have it" and "we need a week or two to go get it."
But in terms of research time, there's a big difference between "we have it" and "we need a week or two to go get it."
And of course time is the big research resource. You can solve some of this with parallelism - pause one topic, start up another - but at some point it all eats up time and that imposes costs in terms of research scope or comprehensiveness or just what people want to look into.
I don't have any 'solutions' for this (except maybe the widen the bandwidth for NA programs to send scholars to Europe) just that I think it is a fairly significant factor that subtly shapes the scholarship.
Also, obviously, not a slight on NA scholars doing material culture.
Also, obviously, not a slight on NA scholars doing material culture.
Also, my current project would just have been totally impossible without a library as well resourced as @UNCLibrary ; @UNChistory extending my (unpaid) research appointment is the thin thread that lets me remain a scholar in truth...
...something to keep in mind when seeing precarious academics struggling to keep a research agenda together through shifting academic affiliations or periods as an 'independent researcher.'
I've been remarkably fortunate to have unbroken access to research resources.
I've been remarkably fortunate to have unbroken access to research resources.
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