The Unsung Tool of the Trade

I am a very frequent visitor and poster to several message boards, forums and communities that deal with the field of paranormal research. In fact you may know me without ever realizing you do. I am often called lorddraven2000 online and have been very active in my research and work involving that medium. Recentally while conversing with some fellow researchers the topic of equipment came up. Now sadly researchers today act like basketball players. They want to show off that 300 dollar pair of Jordans, or that cool throwback jersy they paid a week's salery for. These cats started bragging about their EMF meters that TAPS use and their 50 buck flashlights, and of all the gear mentioned, one vital piece was not brought up once. I heard of teams who ven brought small dogs to detect the pressence of spirits. One group even told me they liked to bring a security system simular to those used in museums to protect various priceless artifacts. I was impressed that someone would be devoted enough to dump that much cash but I was shocked by what I discovered. Not one of tese aspirig groups brought paper and pens with them on investigations.

My first response was shame on you!!!! Of course I became the old hunter trying to inflict my old ways on the new dogs on the porch but in reality how is it that we have sunken so low that now te only thing important is audio and visual documentation? A simple pen and notepad would be more then enough but the groups I spoke with claimed there was no need, because all they needed were pictures and they were satisfied. Wow, are we that ego driven anymore? I can not imagine not having my pen at my side attached to a belt loop and my notepad there in my front pocket, eagerly awaiting me to document something in there for future use and reference. I can't imagine how a group that does not keep such data could be accepted as anything less than a joke. Some things that occur during our work as investigators cannot be captured on audio or visual devices and needs to be documented for prosperity and future use. What if you feel ill at a certain location, or someone gives you first hand accounts of paranormal activity? Yes, of course a tape recorder could document things just as easy but still later on you are going to have to transcribe that over to paper form for your files, yet oddly enough these groups I spoke with don't even keep files. It is enough to make me go crazy!

I require my team to each have some way to document what s going on. Dravenstar does not just use notebooks though. We have detailed forms that allow us to document things with easy to use precision and a better way to utilize it for future use or to show the client just what we saw or experienced. Every member of DPRT carries a pen or pencil and something to write on. If they do not bring it, than I hand it to them prior to a hun. After every investigation each member is handed an individual investigator form that allows me to see how each person felt on the case as an individual. I cannot express the importance of documenting your findings enough. Our field is already suffering by attack of the so called scientific community and this is one way we have to defend ourselves yet so many groups re failing to use it. Harry Price would go on a killing spree if he was aware of this tragedy in our field. I myself have actually banned members from working with us for failure to comply with documentation rules and regulations. I want to keep this short and sweet so I am done for now, but just remember if you want to be taken seriously, lease consider the importance of a simple notebook and a pen!!!!!