productive? thumb-twiddling
May. 12th, 2008 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaBack in 1962 Alan Spry completed his PhD at the University of Tasmania titled "Some Aspects of the Stratigraphy, Structure, and Petrology of the Precambrian Rocks of Tasmania". This was the last time someone was silly enough to look at all of the Tasmanian Metamorphic Rocks for one project. Needless to say, I have to make use of his research in writing up the introduction to my thesis (since mine deals with many of the Tasmanian metamorphic rocks) in the section covering "Previous Work". Alas, although my advisor gave me a spare copy of Spry's thesis to consult whenever I wish, it did not come with a table of contents!
I just spent a couple (three?) hours going through his thesis page by page, and typing up all of the headings and the page number upon which they appear. There now exists a table of contents, in four pages. I've printed it, and will put it into the thesis, so that should anyone else ever need to consult this tome, they will have an easier time trying to locate the information for which they seek than I did when first I attempted to avail myself of this information.
A silly waste of my time? Perhaps. However, it did give me a chance to look at his thought process when organizing his thesis, (so very, very different in content from mine!) which may or may not assist me in the organization of my own.
PS: The man was an amazing artist! His drawings of the minerals in thin-section are clearer and easier to see than the thin-sections themselves (I know, I have some of those thin-sections in my office). Anyone who is interested in minerals should look at his book on Metamorphic Textures, it includes many of the same drawings as appears in his thesis, and is somewhat easier to come by.
I just spent a couple (three?) hours going through his thesis page by page, and typing up all of the headings and the page number upon which they appear. There now exists a table of contents, in four pages. I've printed it, and will put it into the thesis, so that should anyone else ever need to consult this tome, they will have an easier time trying to locate the information for which they seek than I did when first I attempted to avail myself of this information.
A silly waste of my time? Perhaps. However, it did give me a chance to look at his thought process when organizing his thesis, (so very, very different in content from mine!) which may or may not assist me in the organization of my own.
PS: The man was an amazing artist! His drawings of the minerals in thin-section are clearer and easier to see than the thin-sections themselves (I know, I have some of those thin-sections in my office). Anyone who is interested in minerals should look at his book on Metamorphic Textures, it includes many of the same drawings as appears in his thesis, and is somewhat easier to come by.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-12 02:29 pm (UTC)As with the other document that you created headings for - now you *know* where everything is. This was also a great resource for anybody else who follows. (And others who want to actually internalize the tome (and not simply reference it) - they don't *have* to use the table of contents you created, if making it themselves gives them that deeper grasp of the material, but for those who want only to reference it, your table of contents will be a huge asset.)
And certainly you have a deeper feel for the content, so you derive an academic benefit.
Me, I'm skipping the gym tonight because I spent the weekend doing housework instead of my final paper - and then buckled down to my finally paper, only to find how much is still left to do!