Citing sources/Giving credit for ideas

Although we've talked about how blogs are somewhat informal writing, I want to clarify that you still need to give credit for the sources from which you draw ideas. (And certainly need to indicate direct quotes and their sources, regardless of whether they are from print or electronic media.)

For example,

• If you use a direct quote you need to put it in quotation marks or off-set it and give the source.
  
• If you paraphrase someone else's idea, you need to indicate that you've done so.

In most cases I think that doing this informally is fine. (Meaning you don't have to do a reference list like you might in a course paper.) For example, indicating the author's name and year of publication when you are drawing from a course reading or including the web address of where you drew a quote or big idea.

Here's where things get a little fuzzier, since a lot of our work is collaborative.

• If you are summarizing ideas formed in group discussion or sharing an idea that one of your classmates developed, you need to indicate that.

For example, if your analysis of a book is the product of a whole group discussion that helped you think of the book in new ways, say so. For example, "Class discussion helped me see..." or "One of my group members helped me understand..." or "Our debriefing after the such-and-such activity made me realize..." Or maybe leading with, "One of my group members wrote a questioning the text paper that made me look at the book in a different way".

Several positive things come out of acknowledging sources: it allows readers to track down written sources, it reminds us of the value of talking through ideas and hearing multiple interpretations of text and it keeps us "honest" in terms of sharing the credit for ideas.

I know there may be times when the issue of what counts as one's own idea and what is drawn more directly from others may seem blurry. Let's keep this conversation open!