What is Documentation?
Documentation is a guild to your project for judging. There is a certain amount of information that we need in order to judge an item. If you are interested in entering, it is best to have this and it is the way we can help you get to the next level in your art. Don’t worry, we have done most of the work for you. You can fillout the Ansteorra Local Documenation Form and use that for everything other than Kingdom Arts & Sciences.
Do I always need documentation?
Only if the venue you are showing requires it or it is an SCA life project. However, projects that do have documentation are better received than those that don’t.
What is the SCA Life arts category I keep hearing about?
The SCA is not a strict reinactment organization, we are an education organization and a celebration. If we were truly reinactment, we would have a very narrow timeframe and rules for presentation at an event. Not everything we do or use is stricktly period, but it has value to our society. Your chair covers, banners, armor hacks, they all have value as an art and a society. The only place you can’t enter them into a competition or display them is Kingdom Arts & Science, and if the group hosting the display or competion excludes it.
What needs to be in my Kingdom A&S entry documentation?
Title – You should have a title or a cover page with your name and a title for your item. It can also help to include contact info and local group.
Summary – It helps if you list your materials, substitutions and answer all the questions on the judging sheets in a simple way to help your scorer get an overview of your intention.
Body – You need to answer the following questions and you may be able to stop at your summary:
- Who – Who made it? – Examples: Romans, Celts, Amazigh
- What – What is it? – Examples: A jewelry box, a Tudor dress
- Why – Why did they make it? – Examples: It was a social status item, to make cloth, to have something to wear.
- When – When was it made? Examples: 1590s, in the reign of Charlamagne
- Where – Where was it made? Examples: What is now modern Finland, England, Japan, a particular village in Poland
- How – How did they make it and how did you make it? Example: they made these hats out of wool and stiffened them with mercury. I made this hat out of wool but used modern stiffener because mercury is poisonous.
Citations – You should give a citation from a book, media or credible online source for each of the assertions in your question answers. Avoid popular history and how to books unless they have an academic or studied recreation theme. This will be gathered into a works cited or documented at the end of the writeup.
Substitutions – We don’t want you to poison yourself, go broke or try to find something extinct. Just note why you substituted something and why you think it is a good replacement and you are good to go.
When in doubt use the judging sheets to guild your writing. Also if you need help writing, we can help find you a writing partner or editor. Just contact your local A&S Minister.
What are optional items for my documentation?
Table of contents – If you have a lot of pictures, you can include this to help your scorer find information easier.
Headings, Section Titles- A pretty paper leaves an impression that you are thoughtful and neat in your work. Though this is not something judged, this can make it easier for you scorer to find information and leave a good impression.
Pictures – This is a great way to show your process as you go. Many people understand something better if they can see it as well as read it. Stepping someone through your “How” process helps your scorer give you a good score.
How long should my documentation be?
It needs to be long enough to answer all the questions a judge needs to provide good feedback and scores. Even at Kingdom Arts and Sciences, Static and Performance documentation can be 5 pages of written text (not including headings, TOCs, Summaries, pictures and your works cited).
It is okay to write more than that average, but we do need a summary at the front that answers all the relevant questions for judging and where to find those answers in the documentation itself.
Don’t overwrite. If you want to write a lot more than that, or have a narrative, enter an academic project.
Do I have to use MLS for my citations?
No, you can use any published citation method. It is standard to use whatever you used in high school or college. If you don’t remember, use the Chicago Manual of Style documentation system. That is what the majority of history academics are currently using. No points should ever be deducted for bibliography style.
How do a learn a citation method?
You don’t have to. Microsoft Word will do it for you by allowing you to fill out a form. Microsoft provides free training at Learn Word Citations. Within Word, you can flip to another style with a pulldown. Google has a plug in and there are several packages like Zotero that will help you do citations. You can also look up the citation at WorldCat.org. Look up your book, click the ” under the picture tell it what style you want to use, and it spits it back at you ready to copy and paste.
What if I have not written in years and am not good at it anymore?
In static and performance entries, no one should ever grade you on your grammar or spelling. As long as all the information is there and cited, you are good. If you are still nervous, find a friend to write it for you. No one says you have to do the writing, just the research and work.
Can’t I just video my documentation?
Yes, you can. However, you still need to provide a works cited page. You will need to tell us what your source is when you use it in your talk. It can be as simple as using Google Meet, Zoom or Teams to capture your talk. For questions on how to best do this contact kingdom@moas.ansteorra.org.
What if I have a special need that I need help with?
Contact accomodations@moas.ansterorra.org and copy kingdom@moas.ansteorra.org and we will get you over to our accommodations deputy to find a way to allow you to enter equally with the rest of the artists. WE WILL NOT ASK YOUR SPECIFIC DIAGNOSIS but please come with some ideas on what will work for you.
Performance is not an item. How do I document that?
You will just need to answer the list a little differently.
- Who – Who performed it? – Examples: Catholic Monks, Medieval Fools.
- What – What is it? – Examples: A story, a song, a poem
- Why – Why did they perform it? – Examples: to entertain at a feast, to prepare a person for worship
- When – When was it written or performed? Examples: 1342, Early Babylonia
- Where – Where was it performed? Examples: In a cathedral, at a campfire for the village, in a travelling troupe
- How – How did they perform it and how did you perform it? Did they use props? What did they where? Example: This song was performed with a lute and drum without a vibrato. I did not have a lute player or a drum player and am performing it acapella without a vibrato. This story was told in Old Norse. I do not think anyone would understand this in Norse, so I am performing it in English (a substitution).
What is an Academic Project?
An Acadmic project is a research paper, or project that is typically seen at the college level. No physical items are judged, just your research. These can be expiremental archeology, research paper with supporting visuals/items, science expirament, academic source catalog. If you have questions on what this contains, please contact kingdom@moas.anstorra.org