At Glasgow School of Art they taught me "think first, google later" but I have always felt that it is not enough.
I would rather warn "think first, google later, but keep thinking all the way": it is so easy to get lost in research, especially at the beginning of the process.
When to stop opening new tabs?
Today I decided it was time to take a break from the internet, to start some field research. I went to Verona - my city- center, to interview or to make an appointment for an interview. "Now I don't have time for you" the bookseller said, "Fair enough" I though
"Try again... in January"
January!? Oh dear! It is going to be Christmas soon; poor booksellers are over-loaded with work. No field research until January?! I guess if it would be useful to try to work for one of them for a time, to observe things going on from the inside. Given that she or he would be happy with that, which is not obvious at all.
Booksellers are maybe more difficult and temperamental than librarians and this, I am sure, is a good share of the exciting adventure that people somehow expect when entering a bookstore. A human bookseller can be different form an on line bookstore, to the point to refuse you a book and to escort you to the front door. Here, to me, part of the soul of books comes to life: subjective human thoughts, ideas and ethic.
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