The Independent Scholar's Handbook

by Ronald Gross

Contents

Acknowledgments                                                                     x

Prologue: Encounters with Four Mentors                             xii

Part One: Starting Out                                                             1

    1. Risk Takers of the Mind                                                 3

        Emily Taitz and Sondra Henry: A Quest for
            "Women Written Out of History"                                    15

    2. From "Messy Beginnings" to the
             Fruits of Research                                                     20

    Step 1: Start Your Own Intellectual Journal                            21

    Step 2: Reconnoiter New Realms of Knowledge                    24

    Step 3: Enter a New Field                                                     28

    Step 4: Develop Your First Projects                                      31

    From Seed to Fruit: How an Idea Grows to
    Become a Product of Research                                             35

    Eric Hoffer: A Passionate Philosopher                                   36

Part Two: The Practice of Independent Scholarship            43

       Janet Barkas: Coming to Terms with a Murder                   47

    3. Resources: Where? What? Who? How?                      50

       Special Library Collections                                                 55

       Interlibrary Loans                                                               59

      Access to Databases                                                           61

      Barbara Tuchman: A Quest for Excellence                           66

    4. Working with Others                                                      71

     Finding Fellow Scholars among Your Neighbors                   72

     Corresponding with Colleagues                                             72

     Your Turn for an Intern?                                                       74

     Organizations of Scholars                                                     75

     The "Amateur Wing"                                                             77

     The Hidden Conference                                                        77

     Mentors                                                                                79

     Doing a Delphi                                                                      80

     The Intellectual Partnership                                                    82

     Your Own Advisory Committee                                            88

     Your Own Institute                                                                90

     William Draves: A Scholarly Celebration of Free Universities  91

    5. Intellectual Craftsmanship                                              97

     Pitfalls in Research                                                                 98

     Beyond Traditional Methods                                                 101

     Managing Your Intellectual Projects                                      103

     Betty Friedan: The Problem That Has No Name                   106

    6. Wherewithal                                                                    113

    Obtaining a Title or Affiliation                                                 115

    Grants and Awards                                                                118

    Other Sources of Financial Support                                        129

     John Snyder: Mapping the Earth                                            134

    Interlude: Encounters along the Way                                138

Part Three: Independent Scholars in Action                         143

    Alvin Toffler: A Journey Past Time                                         145

  7. Sharing Your Work                                                           151

      Teaching—as Socrates Taught                                             151

      Publishing Your Work                                                         156

      Nontraditional Products of Scholarship                                161

      Intellectual Activism                                                             164

      Hazel Henderson: Alternative Futures                                   170

  8. "Play for Mortal Stakes":
      The Intellectual Pleasures of Your Work                        176

      Savoring the Meaning of Your Work                                    177

      Five Who Played "for Mortal Stakes"                                   178

      The Further Reaches                                                            182

      Sabbaticals for "Practical Scholarship"                                  185

      Buckminster Fuller: Exploring the Universe                            189

   9. Scholarship as Your Joy, if Not Your Job                       195

      Leo Miller: The Scholar Outside                                           203

10. Interdependence among Independent Scholars              208

      How to Start a Roundtable for Independent Scholars            224

      Reinhold Aman: The Meaning of Abuse                                228

      Postscript: Unfinished Business                                       232

      Appendixes                                                                        238

         I: Maxims for the Life of the Mind                                      238

        II: Specialized Bookstores: Gourmet Shops for Scholars     240

       III: Foundation Funding                                                       241

      IV: Tax Deductions for Independent Scholarship
            as a Business                                                                 253

       V: University Presses in North America                               255

      VI: Copyrighting Your Work                                                257

     VII: The National Coalition of Independent Scholars              261

   VIII: How Independent Scholars Can Organize:
           Five Case Studies                                                           262

Notes                                                                                       268

Bibliography: A Basic Bookshelf for
  the Independent Scholar                                                      273

Index                                                                                       287

Gross, Ronald. The Independent Scholar's Handbook. 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1993. xviii, 301 pp.

Review of Ronald Gross' The Independent Scholar's Handbook (2nd ed.)

Review of Ronald Gross' The Independent Scholar's Handbook (1st ed.)

"Oh, To Freely Pursue the Scholarly Life!" by Gary Shapiro

National Coalition of Independent Scholars