A few weeks ago I was leafing through a back issue of Relevant Magazine that I’d picked up at a library book sale. In an article by Shane Hipps entitled “What’s [Actually] On Your Mind?” I spotted a quotable quote that I wanted to share with my social media friends.
I typed up the quotation, included the name that Hipps claimed was the source, and popped it up on Twitter and Facebook
like this [see actual citation below]:
"We become what we behold." –Marshall McLuhan
— annkroeker (@annkroeker) July 21, 2012
People do that all the time, you know. They stick up a quotation they see somewhere without citing the source.
Those people however, may not have as many English majors and other literary types in their list of friends and followers as I. As soon as that update went live on Facebook, a few word-loving women engaged in the comments. One friend was using that quote in a project of her own, but hadn’t heard that it was connected to McLuhan. She asked where I found it.
Before I had a chance to type up the Relevant Magazine info, another friend responded that some people claim William Blake said it, providing this link from EnglishClub.com.
I tapped out my source: Sept-Oct 2010 Relevant Magazine, “What’s Actually on Your Mind?” By Shane Hipps. Page 74. Here is the actual sentence from the article, with proper in-text credit, as I should have presented it:
“In the simplest terms, to quote Marshall McLuhan, we become what we behold.” (Hipps 74)
Out of respect, gratitude, and a desire to do the right and legal thing, it’s essential to cite the source, to point to the origin, to give credit where credit is due.
Give Credit Where Credit is Due
I blush to realize I hadn’t clearly done so myself that day.
School is about to start, so I’m busily preparing documents for the writing class I’ll be teaching. One of the first things we cover is plagiarism. I use explanations and definitions from Plagiarism.org in my presentation (I recommend reading their FAQ page for an overview). As we discuss plagiarism and its consequences, many of these students learn for the first time in their lives that plagiarism is a kind of theft (Starr).
I tell students that they need to cite the source not only for every direct quotation but also for every piece of information they use in a paper.
“Even if I put it in my own words?” they ask.
“Even if you put it in your own words,” I answer. “That’s a paraphrase, but it’s based on another person’s idea and you have to say so. Same if you summarize. It’s still someone else’s idea and you need to cite the source to give them credit.”
“What if we don’t by accident?” a student invariably asks. “What if we accidentally leave it out but don’t mean to?”
I give them the hard news: even if they unintentionally plagiarize, they’re still held responsible.
My students are quality kids who want to do the right thing. At this point in the discussion, they’re scared. “What can we do?” they ask.
“Cite your sources,” I say, urging them to keep track of every book, article, television show, website, or email as they watch, listen, read and research. As they’re working, they should collect all of the information they need for MLA format, which is the formatting and style I require. “I’d rather see a paper peppered with in-text citations and a long list of sources on the Works Cited page than to have you leave something off. When in doubt, cite.
Test your understanding of plagiarism via this Information Literacy project or this quiz from Empire State College.
Citation Online: Blogs
Since I began blogging, I’ve tried to include names and hyperlinks that help readers track back to the source I’m citing, but are links enough? Do readers realize that I’ve used technology to “credit” the source when they see words highlighted in blue?From this point forward, I want to offer more.
Attribution Policy Statement
Adrienne L. Massanari and Meghan Dougherty of The Center for Digital Ethics and Policy wrote “Best Practices for Bloggers: Dimensions for Consideration.” They recommend bloggers create an attribution policy statement:
Include a standard for how you will indicate attributions in your posts and how you expect readers to indicate attribution of cited material in comments. Also include a policy on reuse of your original content. (digitalethics.org)
An attribution policy statement seems like an important step. Stay tuned. I’ll be working on that.
MLA Format for Citations on Blogs
On my blog, is it enough to hyperlink to the source, or should I be using MLA?My work is my intellectual property, just as the work of other writers, poets, photographers, bloggers and journalists is theirs. I expect people to honor my rights; I would be a hypocrite if I failed to respect the intellectual copyright of others. It shouldn’t matter if it takes more time; I shouldn’t be lazy. I should give credit where credit is due.
I am more convinced than ever that I should cite as thoroughly as possible using a clear, standardized format for doing so. Rather than reinvent the wheel or come up with my own special method, I am going to use MLA format.{resisting urge to sigh}I want to do this and I’m going to commit. It means I have to pay more attention to my sources, coming up with a meticulous note-taking system. When I use a quote, paraphrase or summary, I’ll have to connect it with the correct source, insert the in-text citation, create the works cited section, double-check that any automated citations are in their correct form…It means I have to do what I expect of my students.
And much as I hate to admit it, that’s a very good thing.
Out of habit, I’ll hyperlink, but I’ll try to add sources at the bottom of each page.
Simplifying the Work of Citation
PlagiarismToday.com offers many thoughts on plagiarism and citation. They even hunted down a WordPress plugin, netblog, though I can’t figure it out.
An alternative: Use easybib.com or create the “works cited” info and format by hand.
For the classic approach, turn to the OWL at Purdue University. They have plenty of examples to help a blogger put together a proper works cited page or section. You refer to their samples and type them up yourself. Sometimes, believe it or not, I have found it faster to create a citation myself than to rely on automation via easybib.
Whatever method I end up using, I intend to have a works cited info follow each post. For today’s post, I used easybib.com and pasted in the results below. Here’s the public link, created by EasyBib (although one source that I manually inputted was left out).
Citing on my blog seems doable; a trickier challenge is to cite on social media.
Citation Online: Social Media
Social media is what started this whole citation journey for me: my lack of citation in a Facebook update. How do I manage citations on Facebook? How do I give full credit on Twitter when so few characters are available?
Create a Satellite Citation Site
Here’s my only idea so far.
For Twitter, I’m thinking of creating a satellite website that can house citations. In fact, I don’t even have to create one, as I have an underused Tumblr account where I could publish information that doesn’t fit in a tweet or a Facebook update. The tweet, therefore, would have the quote and then a link, directing followers and friends to a more thorough explanation with citation info included.
What do you think? Is that enough?
I could do the same with Facebook, or perhaps I could use the Notes section as the location of longer citations?
More experimentation needed in this area.
Summary
I will continue to create hyperlinks within my posts, but to practice what I preach in the areas of plagiarism and citation, I will try to do more in-text citation, as well. I also intend to include a Works Cited page at the bottom of each blog post, adding any extra copyright information in brackets after the citation (such as Creative Commons licensing or other permissions).
Until I come up with a better plan for social media, I will create a Works Cited page at my Tumblr blog or in the Notes section of my Facebook page.
In today’s post, I will create hanging indents, but I might not do it every time (requires minor html coding).
Finally, anyone who has opinions, ideas, solutions, or recommendations, by all means chime in.
Works Cited
Bailey, Jonathan. “Using MLA and APA Citations On Your Blog.” Plagiarism Today. N.p., 18 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/01/18/using-mla-and-apa-citations-on-your-blog/>.
Blake, William. “We Become What We Behold.” We Become What We Behold. EnglishClub.com, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://www.englishclub.com/ref/esl/Quotes/Life/We_become_what_we_behold._2554.htm>.
Credit Is Due (The Attribution Song). Dir. Nina Paley. Perf. Bliss Blood. QuestionCopyright.org, n.d. YouTube.com. YouTube. QuestionCopyright.org, 27 June 2011. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPtH2KPuQbs>. [Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)]
Hipps, Shane. “What’s [Actually] on Your Mind?”. Relevant Magazine. Sept.-Oct. 2010: 73-77. Print.
Massanari, Adrienne L. “Best Practices for Bloggers: Dimensions for Consideration.” Center for Digital Ethics and Policy. Loyola University, 2 Aug. 2012. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://digitalethics.org/resources/best-practices-for-bloggers-dimensions-for-consideration/>.
“Plagiarism FAQs.” Plagiarism.org. IParadigms LLC, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2012.
Starr, Karen. “Plagiarism: What It Is.” Plagiarism 101: How to Write Term Papers Without Being Sucked into the Black Hole. Library at the University at Albany, 2002. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://library.albany.edu/usered/plagiarism/>.
Stolley, Karl, and Joshua M. Paiz. “Is It Plagiarism Yet?” Purdue OWL: Avoiding Plagiarism. Purdue University, 4 Apr. 2010. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/2/>.
“What is Plagiarism?” Plagiarism.org, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/what_is_plagiarism.html> [From Plagiarism.org: REPRINT & USAGE RIGHTS: In the interest of disseminating this information as widely as possible, plagiarism.org grants all reprint and usage requests without the need to obtain any further permission as long as the URL of the original article/information is cited.]
Thank you for this, Ann.
You’re welcome! I share this with my students at the beginning of each school year, and it serves as a healthy reminder to me, since I do so much writing.
I hope this shocks you are much as it did me.
About 10 years ago I was on the communications commission in our church.
One Sunday, the minister, a highly respected man, in his sermon attributed “Barefoot Boy” to James Whitcome Riley. I couldn’t rememer the right poet (it was John Greenleaf Whittier) but I knew it wasn’t Riley, so as I left I mentioned it to him, because I knew the next service would include several retired English teachers. I went home, looked it up and e-mailed him.
A couple of weeks later I was in a meeting that included the minister’s son. We were thinking of having the Sunday services broadcast, but the son objected, saying “My father can’t be looking up every reference he uses!”
Why not?
I have to verify every reference I use. You do. Should a minister who addresses hundreds of people every Sunday (or even one who only adddresses a few) be exempt?
In fact, I think he needs to be extra careful!
Great story, Mom! I think this would be an interesting thing to have pastors consider.
I really appreciate clear citation in sermons, even if it’s just verbally. Sometimes the pastor will put it on PowerPoint, but sometimes he’ll just say it quickly and I scribble as fast as I can in my Curiosity Notebook. I love documentation so that I can track stuff down for myself.
Yes, it’s important. I took a quilting class, at a local University, and the teacher handed out COPIES of the pattern! I was totally shocked! That’s theft, pure and simple!
As to referencing at the bottom of posts, if that’s what you feel is necessary, you do it. I’m good with the hyperlink -smile-.
BTW, please forgive any typos, etc.; the comment is in gray and it’s Very Difficult for me to see.
Oh, Sandra! I assume that quilters could sell that, right? Whether they do or don’t, though, it was someone’s creative work. Wow.
I love getting people’s comments, like yours that you feel it is not necessary. I am going to try to do it. It’ll slow me down, but it feels like the right thing to do, especially given what I have to tell the kids.
Thanks, also, for pointing out how light the type is in this comment box. Now that I’m in here writing to you, I see what you mean. I’ll see if I can change that somewhere. I’ll bet I can. My apologies for your difficulty making out the words!
Sandra, I’m not sure, but I think I darkened the type when you’re typing in the comment box. Hope this helps!
Well, this could cut down on my FB posting, that’s for sure. I always say who it is I’m quoting and that I’m copying from their morning devo which lands in my inbox. When asked, I supply a hyperlink to the subscription page for that devo (usually Richard Rohr or Henri Nouwen, occasionally the Church of the Savior). But people seldom ask. I figure if the word is good enough, getting it out to a wide variety of readers is only a positive, not a negative. I am not trying to ‘steal’ anything.
Sigh.
I sometimes paraphrase preachers for my contributions to Michelle DeRusha’s Use it On Monday meme and I always give the preacher’s name somewhere in the post. Any actual quotes go inside quotation marks. Adding further info at the bottom seems … off-putting and somehow counter-intuitive to something as informal as a blog, especially when we are trying to digest what we’ve heard or read and are passing it on. As long as some credit is given somewhere in the body of the post, I personally would find footnotes distracting and would probably choose to ignore them. I’ll be curious to see what your other readers think. I am definitely all for giving credit, just not convinced that blogs require footnotes.
I’ve debated about this for a long time, and I think the hyperlink takes the interested reader to the source and then you are in essence citing it.
The hyperlink could be pasted into the comments below, like you’ve been doing when asked.
I think my overkill is my response to the fact that I have to drill this into my students at the start of every school year. And then, when I’m working on my blog, I’m not following the same standard. I know it’s an academic level thing, the whole MLA/APA citation thing, but the idea of citation is for people to find the source for themselves. That’s what you do when you provide the hyperlink. That’s what I do when I hyperlink text in my blog. So I think adding the MLA is likely overkill, but I do want to model best practices to my students so that I’m not accused of hypocrisy or a double-standard.
In other words, you may be right, that unless someone is writing more of an academic piece, or perhaps something that reflects considerable research, or a health blog where claims should be verifiable, a works cited section could be, as I said above, overkill. But I’m willing to do the work. For now.
Sigh.
I’ll be watching for additional responses!
I think I’m close to Diana, here. I embrace the importance of letting people know when we’re drawing on someone else’s creation, but I think in this format, links are a great way to do it.
I also understand that academic pull to provide the full citation–I’m not convinced it’s necessary here, though.
Grateful for your input, Sheila, especially given your academic background.
What do you think about this scenario: let’s say I read something I want to quote from a book that I read offline. So I find the page number, I type out the quote, and then for the reader to truly find the exact quote, she would need to know the correct book edition or else the pages would be “off”. In that case, would you just create something in-text to point people to that exact book, since the Amazon link may not reflect the precise edition?
It happens sometimes with magazines, too, where they don’t publish all the articles online so I can’t link to the precise article. So I would have to create some kind of reference to it. How would you do that? Just refer to it in parentheses, maybe, with a page number?
That sounds like a good approach. I’ve run into problems when I review a book I read on Kindle. How do I cite the “page” when I read on Kindle? I am still playing with that one.
I think conceptually, for a blog, my goal would be the briefest in-text reference that would point a reader to the right place.
Hmm….you’ve got me thinking with “brief.”
Blog readers might be put off by a long works cited section…
By the way, regarding your Kindle books w/o page numbers. I found this: http://www.noodletools.com/helpdesk/kb/index.php?action=article&id=206&relid=2 Here’s another opinion: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/blog/2011/03/14/citing-a-kindle-book-in-mla-style/ The explanation at this library website seems to offer a clear approach (I like it best, as for in-text citation she recommends citing chapter and paragraph #): http://apu.libguides.com/content.php?pid=55119&sid=403551
Thanks, Ann! I will check those out!
I struggle with how to teach this properly also, so I appreciate your suggested links and ideas. My students are required to use proper citation format for essays, but many of them also do an on-line semester project. I remind them that even though others do not use citations on blogs or videos or even Powerpoint slides, when something on-line is part of an academic project, it should list sources. I show them examples of a Sources page on a blog and at the end of a video. I think I will incorporate the idea of listing sources in a note on Facebook so that all types of on-line projects are making the same citation effort.
As for my own blog, I use hyperlinks and list sources at the end of the post. Perhaps I should be more diligent also; however, I do exactly what I ask my students to do for an on-line project. My students are also required to write an essay reflecting on their project, and all the sources must be listed there also.
Some students resist the effort required for citation, but perhaps turning it around might be an option: how would they feel if someone stole their words and ideas? I have never asked this, but maybe now is the time.
I’m going to slip over to your blog right away and see your end-of-post references.
I love the idea of flipping it around. Is there a way to drive it home? Could you have them write a poem or something they care about at least a little bit and then turn it in and you read it aloud and announce that you wrote it? There’s probably a better way to illustrate it. Or maybe have them turn in something they have carefully decorated, something that they’ve made “their own” and then present it as yours?
Just brainstorming.
Thanks for offering to pop over to my blog. I don’t think I list sources at the end of any recent posts, but I did for the post I linked to Food on Fridays this week. That one includes hyperlinks also. Since I tend to use the same sources for multiple posts, I should probably add a Sources or Works Cited page using MLA.
As for the turning it around idea, I will keep thinking about it. I may compile a list of their ideas from an in-class writing assignment and present them to show the difference between “stealing” and giving credit.
“Ann Kroker, I love you,” said the enthusiastic English teacher.
🙂
Afraid I would plagiarize someone else’s earlier comment, I misspelled your last name…
You’re so sweet! No worries–it happens all the time.
Ann, thank you for the challenge and example.
I know that in the past, etiquette for any material cited might have hyperlink and “HT: Name of site/source” or something like that. Usually, I have cited simply by a link.
Blogging as a medium is faster than print. So, it is tempting to want to be the water cooler chat rather than the scholar or even the journalist. However, ethics are what makes any of us credible or not. The challenge to form these and share them is a wise and worthy effort.
Rich, I love your thoughts on this–you make a good point that many blogs feel more like a chat than a formal report; also, the speed of publishing is so different from other media (except journalism). This suggests we should aim for a simple, clean approach. Yet, to support our ideas and raise credibility (and to simply do the right thing) is to give appropriate credit. That’s why I’m at least testing this more thorough approach. My ideas may be overkill, they may not be worth the effort, and they will definitely slow me down. But it hopefully will make it easy for people to find the source. That seems to be one principle; the other, of course, is to be super-cautious not to present an idea as my own, even inadvertently.
I think the issues of plagiarism and intellectual copyright are a bit difficult to sort through; what we owe a source is not cut and dried.
You’re a real pro, Ann. This writer thanks you for your attentiveness.
Jennifer, you’re a devoted journalist who already understands the importance of citation–I’m just preaching to the choir!
Uh, oh. I haven’t messed with MLA since college!
AP style is to reference it in the sentence, such as, “In the August, 2012 edition of the Wacoan, Megan Willome wrote, ‘Blah blah blah,’ in her article titled “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned From Ann Kroeker.” I try to follow that in my blog posts, too, but I do sometimes slack off a bit. I’ll be more attentive after reading this. Thanks!
Megan, thanks for the reminder: AP style is probably the most blog-friendly–kind of lean and easy. I reverted to MLA because of the teaching I do, training kids in academic style geared toward the humanities.
Someone on my FB page just pointed out that if I have thorough notes in my blog posts and decide one day to grab them and use them to create a book, why, I would have everything I need fully documented and properly cited. I don’t have plans right now, but that sure made sense.
Also, your example above made me smile and giggle, and that’s always a fun thing in the middle of the afternoon.
Thank you miss Ann. I cite my quotes, although I don’t always follow proper citation formats, but now I have no excuse with what you’ve shared here. Thank you!
Blessings.
(tell us more about the class you teach… please)
Darlene, I didn’t want to make any formal announcement (for fear of failing to live up to the news), but I’m casually planning to post on Mondays something related to the class. I teach once a week and during prep time, I often come across reminds and information that would be helpful to any writer of any age, even if the concept is something learned long ago and practiced for years.
So, anyway, I will try to explain about the class along the way and then share little ideas, inspiration, solutions and whatnot early in the week.
The class, by the way, is for high school aged kids with very little writing experience, especially in academic forms such as essays and research papers. So it’s not a creative writing course.
Ann – I used to be terrified about plagarism when I was in high school and college, always worried that even my paraphrased references would be snuffed out and I’d get arrested or something. Obviously, someone put the plaigarism fear of God in me when I was a young boy.
Now, on social media, I am aware of citation, but also see often reporting on the whole idea of “mash ups” and re-using content in all sorts of ways… in other words, nothing is original, nothing is owned, nothing is sacred in the world of internet. It’s all fair game. I am personally not comfortable stealing someone else’s material to create my own, but its interesting to see the two extremes : your concern with citation to the nth degree vs. a free for all.
JBW, Thanks for weighing in with your thoughts on this continuum.
Someone pointed out a great reason to thoroughly record all references–to more easily incorporate blog material into book form. All sources are right there in properly cited form, so the extra effort exerted at the time of publishing the blog post saves time later, when editing it into a book.
Full disclosure: Not only am I not an English teacher, I’ve never even completed a college English class. (And I can just hear the teachers among you saying “she didn’t have to inform us that she’s not a professional; it’s obvious”.)
I may be the only (mildly) dissenting voice commenting here, which makes me a little nervous, but Ann, you did invite us to speak our minds.
Attribution is important and honest and the original source should be disclosed whenever possible , especially with quotations. I appreciate links to verify sources and it’s troubling to me when I see quotations used without naming the source or when they’re wrongly attributed. (My favorite example was: “A dress should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to prove you’re a lady. Marilyn Monroe.” Marilyn??? How ridiculous. I didn’t know who said it, but was fairly certain that it wasn’t the woman who was literally sewn into her skin tight dress to sing Happy Birthday, Mr. President. So I did a short search, and found that it was Edith Head, Hollywood costume designer, and that made perfect sense.)
And I have tried to note the source material for my blog posts, whether they are direct quotations or just something that started me thinking.
Now comes the However.
However, attribution can be so onerous that both the writer and the reader become overloaded. Frankly, it makes reading terribly tiresome to be constantly wading through “said John Doe, Professor of Over-regulation, College of Minutiae, Chicago, Illinois”, every few sentences.
A nice little 1. with a footnote at the bottom of the page is much better. That way, it’s easily available (I do not like all of them at the back of the book – the constant going back and forth drives me crazy) but not intrusive.
And honestly, we’d never get around to actually saying anything if we’re bound to state the source of every single idea.
Ecclesiastes tells us that there’s nothing new under the sun. We are all inspired by something else and so the citations would be never-ending.
I think it would be excruciating to read (or write) with citations of every single thought.
Now, if the flaming must begin, please be gentle with it.
You are so funny…and insightful. And honest, too! I appreciate your thoughts. Several other readers agree with you. They thought it was overkill for a blog, for example. I am planning to continue this citation commitment, but I must admit, it is a burden. I like the unobtrusive footnote method you suggest. That’s one of the scholarly approaches I see on science blogs and websites. I do so much research for my class and for my writing, I sure appreciate writers, including bloggers, who cite thoroughly…whatever method they choose. Quotations are one of the biggest things that would be helpful to me. If someone read the quote in a book and would list the book edition and page number and person who said it, wow, that would really help me out.
By the way, your comment is so well formed, you could cut and paste it into a blog post at your place!
Thanks for boldly sharing your thoughts! I truly appreciate you.
Blush !!