# REALLY missing JSTOR access....



## tantric (Aug 30, 2015)

Doing research without journal access is a nightmare. Most people have no idea how much information is availabe in scholarly journal (check Google Scholar). Are y'all familiar with Aaron Swartz's story, the guy the feds literally hounded to suicide because he tried to download a part of JSTOR, which he was legally allowed to do and even after JSTOR refused to press charges? 

I have two collections of papers for previous projects, one about Bantu africa and the other about precolumbian South America. The amount of info in those two folders DWARFS what you can find elsewhere on the internet. My Ubantu project (rpg setting based on Bantu africa)  would have been utterly impossible without JSTOR access. Does anyone else feel this loss?


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## Gurkhal (Aug 30, 2015)

I'm with you 100% even if I've never heard about this Aaron guy, very sad story however. 

Anyway Ubantu and South American interested caught my eye. What system are you Ubantu setting supposed to run on?


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## tantric (Aug 30, 2015)

The core of my project is the idea of using RPGs to preserve vanishing cultures and mythologies. For this, I've created a world called Refugium, where cultures which on Earth got steamrolled by colonialism get a second chance on a world where magic works (and by some great coincidence, all these lands reach the Age of Sail at about the same time). The first part of this is Ubantu, a world based on Bantu mythology that repudiates the Dark Continent trope by presenting a version of sub-Saharan Africa that is on the verge of its own sui generis Renaissance.Unlike other African settings, it is centered around one group of cultures and follows them faithfully - there is nothing of Egypt or West Africa here.  Ubantu is a magnificent, powerful civilization on par with Renaissance Europe.The PDF is here. Note that you have to download it for the ToC links to work. The map is here. I've also got a bit of work on an Afro-Caribbean/South American continent, if anyone cares to see it.

I conceived it in GURPS, wrote it as systemless then almost sold it to HERO via Indie Press Revolution, which still claims they will go with it at some point. Steven Long of HERO actually read over the manuscript and liked it, saying 'at least this guy can write' and then he and my prospective publisher told me I hand to change the name - Ubantu is too close to Ubuntu, even if Ubantu is protobantu reconstruction for Land of the People. I may call it Wajabu, from Nchi wa Ajabu, land of wonder (lit. Wonderland). Anyway...

intro to next project:


> Welcome to ParÃ­a and NÃ¨f GuinÃ©e
> 
> ParÃ­a is a fantastic setting with two themes:  pre-Columbian South America and Afro-Caribbean cultures, In our world, many native South American cultures are extinct or seriously threatened, in ParÃ­a some of them have become world powers. Likewise with the Caribbean states - rather than Haiti being a failed state, the descendants of the rebellion control an empire where slavery is verboten, Voudu is a world religion and magic is technology.
> 
> ...


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## Gurkhal (Sep 1, 2015)

Couldn't download the PDF due to problems on my own computer  But I'd say that it looks very interesting from the quote part. Its nice to see another author daring to steer away from Medieval Europe!


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## Cambra (Sep 4, 2015)

I really do like this idea, I think in is both original and challenging... It reminds me somewhat of the world state of the Kushiel books, but I have a few quibbles... 

Would a Vodun practitioner use middle eastern magic texts? I mean Vodun is animistic in nature and the lore is mostly transmitted verbally, Moseic/Kabbalistic magic is monotheistic and patriarchal and mostly dependent on text... Syncretism is possible but I think you should aim to respect the underlying traditions.


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## psychotick (Sep 5, 2015)

Hi,

I still have journal access even years later, but what you're looking for is in two parts. The first is not the journals themselves but rather the index. Google scholar can do a reasonable job of replacing this allowing you to search a wide range of journals for various articles.

The second part is to access the journals themselves. This is not as difficult as it might seem, depending on the journal. But a lot of them are on line and allow free access to articles older than a certain age.

Cheers, Greg.


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## tantric (Sep 9, 2015)

Cambra said:


> I really do like this idea, I think in is both original and challenging... It reminds me somewhat of the world state of the Kushiel books, but I have a few quibbles...
> 
> Would a Vodun practitioner use middle eastern magic texts? I mean Vodun is animistic in nature and the lore is mostly transmitted verbally, Moseic/Kabbalistic magic is monotheistic and patriarchal and mostly dependent on text... Syncretism is possible but I think you should aim to respect the underlying traditions.



Are you asking about the sixth and seventh books of moses? They were present. I have tons of this, and i'll never use it - it was for a sequel to Ubantu, which is also unpublished.

This is from my notes:



> Legliz SÃ¨vis nan NÃ¨f GuinÃ©e (AKA Vodou)
> 
> 1492	Columbus lands near Cap-HaÃ¯tien
> 1503 	First Africans brought to Hispaniola
> ...


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