Welcome to Haus Charlottenburg

  This month I’m going to explain how to write a simple documentation page that anyone can use when they enter an Arts or Science project for display or competition.  You don’t need to be a great research paper writer, or a scholar, or a professional journalist. You only need to make notes as you work; save any information you find about your item and then follow a simple format. This format can be used for almost anything and will make you look knowledgeable and spiffy.  Above all an organized documentation page relieves you from having to remember all the details about your project.

  The type of documentation we will be discussing is not meant to replace a full-scale research paper. This sort of paper has its place and but is a much longer and involved piece. In most competitions and displays judges and interested viewers don’t have time to read more than 2 or 3 pages. You need to be able to give the most important information about your item in the least amount of pages. A research paper is a good way to share your knowledge about a subject but it is better suited for publication and not to accompany your actual project.

  According to the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, the definition of documentation is “The act or an instance of the supplying of documents or supporting references or records.” Notice that is does not say “The act or an instance of absolute proof that your item existed”.  This difference is an important one and this misperception is what keeps many people from sharing what they love to do with the rest of us who want to know about what they do.

  Documentation is a record of your project and follows the basic questions we all learned in school. You know them, WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY. If you put this information in your documentation page you can’t go wrong.  I recommend that from the beginning to the completion of your project you keep a manila folder with scraps of notes, photocopies of art work, printouts from web pages, and any other bits of information you come across that helped you. Later, when your project is done, you will have all you need to sit down and write it all out and answer the 5 “W’s”. Never assume the reader knows ANYTHING about your item. You must present your information as if every reader is a complete novice in your art.

  Now we will get down to nitty gritty. What do you put in a documentation page? The following is a template and can be adjusted to fit your particular documentation needs. It is by no means the only way to do this.

Double space your typing and use a font such as Times New Roman at a minimum of 12 pitch.  Make it comfortable and easy to read.

  Now this is not a trick question or one to make you squirm. WHATEVER REASON you give here is a good one. Maybe the original was made from a material that no longer exists and you had to make a substitution. Maybe the original material contained something that is now dangerous or an illegal substance, for example, elephant ivory. Maybe you are allergic to the original materials. Maybe the original materials are not within your budget to use. The point is to SHOW you know what was correct and give your reason for doing it differently. Don’t ruin the first impression of a good project by showing you didn’t at least read your research.

HOW did you make your item?
Give details here, folks want to know your process. Remember don’t assume your reader knows ANYTHING about your project or how to make it.

WHAT would you do differently next time?
What worked and what didn’t?  Was using burning gasoline a poor choice to hollow out your canoe?  WHY?

  Include a BIBLIOGRAPHY. This is an alphabetic list, by title, of all the sources of your information. Depending on the source material there are specific ways to write the entries.

This web site is a great help for this-
http://www.bialik.netaxis.qc.ca/homework/stylesheet2.htm

  Include photocopies of art that show your item or similar items. Be sure to note on the back the name of the art, the artist, the date of the art and where that art is now. Even better, include pictures of extant examples of your item. Same rule applies here. Write the details about your example on the back of the copy. If you found the picture in a book include the information about the book in your bibliography.

  You are finished writing your documentation now go the extra step and bind it all in a Plain, white, ½ “ ring binder or a neutral colored report folder. I personally am a BIG fan of putting pages in document protectors so that the pages stay neat and clean. If you punch holes in the paper, pages could get lost or pulled out when people handle your work over and over again.  Putting your documentation in a folder or binder show you took the time and effort to prepare your information and gives a good first impression.   All of the above information can be given in 2 or 3 pages. This is only a suggested format and not carved in stone. Every project is different and everyone’s style is different. The most important thing is that you share what you learned in your project. You never know you could be the one to inspire someone else to want to make this item too and they will be forever grateful!

©2009, Martha R. Fletcher
The author of this work retains full copyright for this material.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.