Giving credit to your sources
by Kurt Mensching on Dec 22, 2009 10:53 AM EST
in Housekeeping
20 comments
This has been an issue in a couple of FanShots and FanPosts lately, so I just want to clear it up right now.
If you are using information from another web site, you should be sure to credit the source in your posts with a link to where you found it, and by naming where you found the information. You can highlight your text and click the icon that looks like a chain link to do that.
Second, if you are going to copy and paste a portion of what they wrote -- no more than a paragraph and never the entire thing -- be sure to include that in the block quote function. The icon looks like some quotation mark.
Using information that is not yours is still plagiarism or a violation of other writers' copyrights, even if done so unintentionally.
Thank you.
0 recs |
20 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
BYB: Taking the fun out of sports blogs
jesus man…
first we get all serious about a sportswriter doing his job and now this?
What’s next? We’re supposed to think about the Tigers every tuesday and thursday between the hours of 2 and 5pm?
is it so impossibly hard to properly cite your sources?
All you really need to do is provide a link and use quotations where appropriate.
It’s not hard. It doesn’t ruin any fun.
Wouldn’t be less fun if this place got sued or something and everything had to get really strict all of a sudden?
My Music: new song up! (mp3 site isn't working, hopefully download available soon.)
My Blog: Inside A Head
Slippery slope argument
always a sure-fire way to get flamed to death.
Please. What Kurt is talking about and what you’re talking about are completely different sides of the spectrum. Act like an adult and cite your sources.
2100 Woodward and Twitter
by john.kmiecik on Dec 22, 2009 3:30 PM EST up reply actions
I have a feeling he was being sarcastic
President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.
by David Tokarz on Dec 22, 2009 5:24 PM EST up reply actions
Maybe not
Note to self: read entire thread next time.
President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.
by David Tokarz on Dec 22, 2009 5:25 PM EST up reply actions
I actually thought about this the other day
Since there was a fanpost or two that were used without quotes or sources. Of course my reasoning was because I’d like to know if the source is reliable before I go clicking on links, but I definitely get your point Mack.
@Boney – while I understand where you’re coming from, as a moderator or writer on a blog/website/etc, it’s best to nip things in the bud before it gets out of hand. Granted this may seem minute but with sue-happy morons in the world and issues with renown journalists possibly stealing stories from bloggers or vice versa, it’s just best to let folks know that on BYB, it won’t be tolerated.
I highly doubt it’s Mack was intending to ruin your day Boney but if you had taken the time to do your research, double check your sources and post your big news story and someone just yanked your link and called the story their own, or copied it, etc. you’d be pretty pissed.
The artist formerly known as Granderson28
I get it KidRick
As a former blogger, frequent commenter of sites, etc, I get it.. I really do. But when a “fanpost” says:
“This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bless You Boys writing staff. However, it does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as anything else written here at BYB.”
It is the sole responsibility of the person who is making the post to either claim ownership of it OR to cite their sources based on the interpretation of that statement. While it’s important to the site to maintain a certain level of legitimacy, from the main page standpoint, a fanpost is exactly that, a fan posting a quick blurb OR a column to be promoted to front page status.
Blogs and bloggers and I have had this bone of contention for quite a while now. While I understand that this is a craft that perhaps that the providers of their site are trying to hone, I also understand that this is a community of poor grammar, bad spelling, foul language (also trying to be moderated), etc, in which all of our voices are one (or at least should be).
If I wrote a 892 page non-fiction or fiction novel and some asshat came through and copied it word for word, I’d be pissed. If I were a beat writer for the Tigers who gets new quotes or stories on a daily basis, or if I were an Associated Press reporter writing a generic column (as that Dusty Ryan column likely was), how else can you word or re-word it to get the point across?
I can write “oh yeah it really sucks Dusty Ryan got traded” but then again the point to the post was likely just to post the part about him getting traded and then it was edited by a mod to the point of why even leave it up if it’s that major of a deal…
It’s not that big of a deal to me, to be honest. I like the site, and i like the commenters here. Honestly nothing ground breaking happens here, just like any other sports blog, except for rumors and innuendo and game posts…
Like I said, I like the site. It’s not that big of a deal to me really but… c’mon now, it’s awfully militant to have to post something like this and then throw the word “plagiarism” in there as if the guy was submitting an essay test or a thesis to a major university? It’s a sports blog for god’s sake…
Two people in a span of just three days
simply cut and pasted complete posts from other sites. I don’t think they did it on purpose, but I wanted everyone to know how to use the tools right so it doesn’t happen again.
I don’t know if you have an actual problem with that or just want to argue over something for fun, but this is not a battle you want to pick, so I advise you to drop it and move on.
by Kurt Mensching on Dec 22, 2009 2:32 PM EST up reply actions
I agree with what you're saying Boney
and maybe there needs to be another word for this other than “plagiarism” to describe what Mack is trying to stop here, but unfortunately one doesn’t exist. While “plagiarism” is stigmatized with essays and universities and big name news papers/magazines, etc, it’s hardly militant for a moderator to avoid any unnecessary action that could be taken against the site in the future.
And it doesn’t matter if it’s one page or 892 pages, you should cite your source, no matter how terrible your citation may be. It’s not like Mack posted a huge “Proper Citation” article and is making each and all of us site our sources like we’re writing in MLA or APA (don’t forget your cover page) and will be deleted if we don’t. It’s just very simple, say where you got it from and please put it in quotes, that’s it. It really could be worse but BYB is really good about letting us get away with a lot here, especially when it comes to foul language to an extent. Obviously they could filter it but in realization that anger can get the best of fans, they allow it hoping that we’ll know when its appropriate and not.
Regardless – you’re a former blogger, I’m a former blogger (very, very brief stint) and there are many more of them here in this community. But I’m 100% sure, and you should be too, that if you took the time to write a valid opinion or article, posted it, and someone took it without giving you credit, you’d be ticked. And that’s regardless of the length or content – even if it is just, “Dusty Ryan has been traded.” Heck, someone at MLBTR is going to want their credit for you reading on their website that he’s been traded (just using them as an example), it’s only right to give credit where credit is due. If you don’t think you should on a sports blog like this, then fine, but beware of the consequences that Mack, Ian and the staff may throw down on you.
The artist formerly known as Granderson28
This is one reason why FanShots should be used if someone just wants to link to a story or breaking news post. The link goes right to the source, so proper attribution is given, even if indirectly.
Asking for a “I saw this at MLB Trade Rumors,” or for the blockquote feature to be used (which is right there in everyone’s text window), is hardly out of line.
And if this isn’t a big deal to you, Boney, why are you making one out of it?
by Ian Casselberry on Dec 22, 2009 5:18 PM EST up reply actions
because it is a deal, just not a big one
is it really plagiarism? Did the people pawn off someone else’s words as their own?
On a sports blog? I highly doubt it…
Yes, they did
They posted complete posts from other sites, which you readily admit elsewhere in your comments. You are being a contrarian.
by Kurt Mensching on Dec 23, 2009 8:50 AM EST up reply actions
For me, it’s because not all sources are created equal. Certain sources should get more weighting than others.
My old blog is Tigers By The Numbers.
Now I write at Bless You Boys.
Like music? See what I'm listening to at my Last.fm account.
Bingo.
My Music: new song up! (mp3 site isn't working, hopefully download available soon.)
My Blog: Inside A Head
Kids! Also be sure to include proper bibliographies!
by sal. on Dec 22, 2009 9:28 PM EST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
Everyone's making too big a deal over this
Throw a hyperlink at the top of the freakin FanPost. Takes 10 seconds and gets Kurt and the rest of us that care about journalistic/academic honesty off your backs.
President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.
I care about journalistic integrity
you dont see me post word for word (and the reason, if I explained it, will get me flamed more than any other explanation I’ve ever given on the subject)..
but I think a fanpost, with the descriptor that “this fanpost is not the view of the site” should be enough that if Drew Sharp sees his article re-posted word for word, that it’s just some a-hole reader of a sports blog…
the moderators can do what they want, obviously… I think a comment alone in the fanpost that says “next time don’t copy word for word” would clear the site of any “wrong doing”…
I care about journalistic/academic honesty (none of this is any of that) more than you care about left handed pitchers who throw 93+ mph… how dare you insinuate that
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
