Research in the Highways and Byways: Non-Traditional Sources for Literary and Other Research

Abstract

Fieldwork may well be the oldest research method on earth, but in this day of libraries, the internet, and other kinds of information storage and retrieval systems, it is new again. Going out and talking to individuals—and each person knows something he can talk about, usually something unique and valuable—is non-traditional now. Aspects of fieldwork include oral history (brief questions and interviews which may lead to conversations that are so rich, so deep, often so intimate), sightings (or research that makes use of anything that comes to hand, which may consist of materials ranging from newspapers, lists of movie theaters, data on fiestas, and notices of births, deaths, and weddings), and dictionary research (especially old, unpublished dictionaries).