From: sandell@ils.nwu.edu (Greg Sandell)
Subject: Re: Online Citation Formats (Was Re: Postings on sci.virtual-worlds
Date: 15 Aug 91 04:15:56 GMT
Message-ID: <2819@anaxagoras.ils.nwu.edu>
Organization: The Institute for the Learning Sciences


In article <1991Aug14.200948.6499@milton.u.washington.edu>, Carrie.Heeter@ibm.cl.msu.edu (Carrie Heeter) writes:
> 
> In article <1991Aug12.171231.11288@milton.u.washington.edu>, smoliar@iss.nus.sg 
> (stephen smoliar) says:
> 
> >I never include a
> >"personal communication" citation without first clearing it with the person
> >cited.  I, for one, would prefer to have extended to me the same courtesy I
> >extend to those who send mail to me . . . even in this extended world of mail
> >exchange.  
> >
> 
> Tracking someone you have never communicated with directly down, explaining how 
> and why you want to cite them, and asking permission introduces a whole dynamic
> of approval and obligation which I feel is inappropriate, unnecessary and interf
> eres
> with scholarship.

I don't think either of these positions are wrong; I think that the whole
issue here is the fact that we are dealing with a medium of communication
in which there are many different standards of etiquette, professionalism
and intellectual freedom co-existing at once.  (That is, assuming we
are still talking about citations of things said on the net, and not
merely traditional academia.)

People who have a foot in the traditional academic world of
communication (journals, conferences) are in a tricky position when
it comes to USENET.  When I post on a bboard that's in my area of
academic specialization, among the people reading my postings are
well-known peers and elders in my field.  For me, the notion of
USENET as a place where "all the rules can be broken, you can say
whatever you want" just isn't true.  

As an example (although the professional consequences were practically
none here), in rec.folk-dance I once criticized a particular
band with whom I happen to be acquainted, and some months later I
ran into a guy who said that band had stayed overnight at his house
while they were on tour, and he logged in and SHOWED THEM my posting!
When I gave him a shocked look, he said smugly, "hey man, it's
public domain..."  And sure enough, when the band came to town, they
told me about having read this posting, which was a bit embarassing.

I did not count on this kind of conveyance of my information; but that's
part of the bargain in USENET.  There are so many people from so many
different walks of life dipping in and out of the various newsgroups,
sending email, cross-posting, printing out hardcopies and distributing,
that your writing can turn up in places you scarcely imagine.  

However, in a journal, I pretty much know how my work is going to be
consumed.  The journal tends to be read by only people who are in the
field.  The channels in which my work will be quoted involve 
referee panels and conference committees who review the appropriateness
of the citation; if someone tries to cite me maliciously and incorrectly,
there is a chance it will never get into print.  And even if it does,
I can trust that the readership of the journal will recognize bad
scholarship when it appears.

Well, I hope I scratched the surface of the academia/USENET conflict.

Greg Sandell

-- 
Greg Sandell
sandell@ils.nwu.edu