I respect that Erin Griffey and Victoria Munn had researched a topic that they are passionate about, even though they knew it was not going to be anything easy. Covering beauty is such a vast topic, with body ideals, makeup and skincare being around for hundreds of years; much of it written in old language, or not at all.
They had started with focusing on the beauty of the face but branched out as they found beauty involves much more than just the face. Visual culture was important in early societies, and they wanted to be sure to cover all they could.
To organise all their information from all corner of their topic, they decided to create a digital database. Honestly, I have always been a bit frightened of databases, even after a couple of years using them. They can be overwhelming at times. However, when they told us to think about if our research can be made into a database, it made sense as to how that could be a viable way to organise our information and develop a more comprehensive understanding of our topic. Whether we need to narrow down our ideas or broaden out more, creating a mock database could do the trick.
It does not mean I am any less frightened of databases, but it does mean I am willing to give them more of a shot; especially if it means helping my own research develop.
