re urgent help

[Kathy Chung]

Hello Peter,

On Sat, 22 Jun 1996, Peter Barabas wrote:

> Hello from a frantic Romanian student!
> I am doing a thorough paper on "The Clowns/Jesters in Shakespeare's
> Plays"-their role, how they participate in the development of the plot.
> I desperately need to study researches of the kind. I am terribly heavy
> on time and I stand totally confused faced with the infinity of the
> Internet. Is there any way that I may study  works on this topic from
> you.

The following is my pet attitude towards resources on the Net (the Net
as it is right now and as I experience it):

I'm not an authority on Shakespeare nor the infinity of the Internet but,
from what you've described of your situation, and assuming you are
looking for reference/critical/theoretical material, I personally DO NOT
think the resources on the Internet is the best approach to doing a paper
*when you haven't a lot of time*.

As you said, the Net can seem infinite.  It might be *less time consuming*
to use your local academic library to look for material, unless you've
already exhausted all your local, printed, library options; inter-library
loans; etc.  (I.e., I suspect the ratio of time spent on the Internet to
useful information gathered might not be very high.) This is not to say
you won't find what you're looking for, just that the Net doesn't
necessarily offer a quick solution.  In addition, to get really useful
advice, you might need to be much more specific in your questions.

If others out there in CANDRAMA disagree with me, please do jump in
with your opinions and suggestions!

However, despite my skepticism about the use of the Net for last minute
research, you might wish to direct your question to the following
discussion lists (my info is dated June 1994):

  1) There is a Shakespeare discussion group called SHAKSPER:

      subscription address: shaksper at vm.utcc.utoronto.ca
      to post message, send to: shakeper at vm.utcc.utoronto.ca

  2) PERFORM is on medieval performance

      subscription address: listserv at iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu
      to post message, send to: perform at iubvm.usc.indiana.edu

Good Luck.  Sincerely, Kathy Chung
______________________________________
Kathy Chung <kchung at chass.utoronto.ca>
Graduate Centre for Study of Drama
University of Toronto, Canada