Useful Blogs

Many of the blogs out there on the interweb are for backpackers and tourists. Some of them are useful, but life as an academic researcher is quite different from life as a footloose backpacker. So, while I do use sites like India Mike when I am thinking of taking a vacation, I generally avoid the other travel/tourist sites. Here are a few sites I find/found useful (I usually read most of them as RSS feeds):

Expat/Local Blogs
Our Delhi Struggle.
Gora Desi in Delhi.
Maddy's Ramblings.
The Delhi Walla.
Delhi Magic.
Delhi Tube.
Same, Same (but different).
DilliNet.
Thepopularcasecentre.
Yuni-Net (Yahoo Group).

Food in Delhi.
Foodiebay.
UncleJi's.
Pudding and Pie.
Eating Out in Delhi.
Coffee Houses.

Out and About in Delhi.
Time Out Delhi.
Delhi Happenings.

Bookstores.
Bookstores in Delhi.
My recommendations: Midlands in Aurbindo Marg Market; Full Circle, N-Block Market, GK-I; Oxford Books (not OUP), Barakhamba Road, CP; Amrit Book Co., 21-N Block, CP (although I usually recommend avoiding CP if at all possible); Book Cafe, located inside Cafe Coffee Day (multiple locations).

Flora/Fauna
Trees of India.
Birds of India.
India Birds.
Delhi Bird.
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary.

Travel.
Delhi Metro.
India Mike.
Make My Trip.
Trains at a Glance.

Hair Salons:
Affinity Salon, Green Park Main Market, Delhi
Geetanjali Salon, Green Park Main Market, Delhi

Clothing, luggage, shoes:
Saronjini Nagar Market

Take a deep breath.

The Social Sciences Research Council sent me a pretty useful book a few weeks ago. It's meant for social scientists, of course, but I've gleaned some helpful hints from it even though I'll be doing archival research, not sociology/ethnography/anthropology/etc.

Overseas Research: A Practical Guide

By Christopher Brendan Barrett, Jeffrey W. Cason

Published by JHU Press, 1997

ISBN 0801855144, 9780801855146

142 pages

Looking back on my previous overseas research experiences, I can see one thing that I really needed to do better: ask questions. I was really young and therefore embarrassed, so I tried to fake my way through the research experience on my own. I did a pretty good job, really, but if I could give my younger self one bit of advice, it would be: ask questions BEFORE you leave. All those professors leading your graduate seminars? They did what you're trying to do at one point in time--ask them about their experiences. They may not be so forthcoming--part of getting a Ph.D. is proving you can figure out your research yourself, I think--but for the most part, I think your professors want you to succeed. If they know something useful, they are probably going to tell you.

As for myself, I've forgotten everything useful I once knew about doing research in the U.K. The British Library has completely changed, of course, and I just don't remember much about getting into use the library at the R.I.B.A. And I know absolutely nothing about doing research in India. But if I learn anything interesting, I'll write it down so I can remember to share it with my fellow graduate students once I return.