8: Conclusion
Journalling is not new, and the value of journalling is undisputed. There have never been more different categories of journals: learning journals; diaries; dream books or logs; autobiographies, life stories or memoirs; spiritual journals; professional journals; interactive reading logs; theory logs; and electronic journals (Hiemstra, 2011). And these nine types are before the notebooks, sketchbooks, art journals, ideas boxes, experiment logs and all the individual trackers associated with bullet journalling.
This book has shown that journalling means having a working document for your personal purposes, whatever they may be. We know that research journalling can be experienced as a difficult task, especially as it is associated with particular expectations of what journals and entries look like. Academic communities are often not helpful because many of us have developed our own personal practices over the years, without actively engaging in why particular ways of recording and writing work for us and why others do not. Also, what works for me may not necessarily work for others, and it may not work for you. The reality of journalling is best exemplified with an image from Aine McAllister, whose poetic inquiry journal entry was presented in Chapter 4. In addition to keeping a conventional journal in book form, Aine also often uses post-it notes, as a form of agile management. Journalling therefore is not always straightforward, but may make the journalling process look messy. What has not entered the conversation so far, however, is that in addition to her scholarly and poetic work, Aine is also mum to a cute toddler, and often works with her little boy Áedán on her lap, who will then also ‘work’ (see Figure 8.1).
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