My two cents here -- Part of the problem may be that every discipline of
study has its own way to do it. I'm a dreamer, I know, but I think all the
different disciplines of study should sit down together and try to come up
with ONE user-friendly citation method that they can all settle on. No more
having to master MLA and APA and Turabian... just ONE way, whatever that way
might be.
Donna Williams
May '07 SLIS graduate
University of North Texas
blaze4@attwb.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Karl Dowell" <DowellK@MUSTANGPS.ORG>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 10:29 AM
Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Research and plagiarism policies
> Maggie,
> Thanks for a great topic!
>
> This is slightly off that topic, but I have a soapbox I'm eager to
> speechify from regarding citation and formatting. I've always thought
> many students who plagiarize do so because citation style formats have
> such a steep learning curve. All the punctuation, quotation marks,
> underlining, and italicizing, not to mention getting the elements of the
> entry in just the right order, is especially daunting in an assignment
> where they are learning some complex thinking skills. I've seen
> conscientious students give up in frustration - especially when they
> learn the format is different for each type of resource.
>
> That's why I so appreciate the online citation format websites! You are
> probably familiar with them. They do the work for you. My personal
> favorite is http://citationmachine.net/ for its ease of use.
>
> Now I see students actually enjoying their formatting tasks! Such
> insanity! They fill in the spaces and the citation is generated for
> them.
>
> I have a teacher or two who still make their students learn to format,
> but I believe that is like making every student manufacture their paper
> from wood pulp. Learning the writing and research processes are
> challenging intellectual tasks. And I'm given too little time to teach
> them. Let's focus on thinking skills. If you are blessed with enough
> teaching time through the middle and high school years to include
> citation style formatting, I think these format websites are a great way
> to scaffold your research beginners to successful copyright compliance.
> I'm proud of the MLA prowess I gained at university. English teachers
> furtively ask me for assistance with particularly knotty citations. But
> I recognize that formatting skill is now about as necessary as creating
> subject cards for my automated catalog.
>
> Thanks for letting me spout.
>
>
> Karl Dowell
> Media Director
> Mustang High School
> Mustang OK
> dowellk@mustangps.org
>
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