Writing Online

Attribution: Tracing Vectors

Jon Udell and Peter Drayton, among others, have been wondering about attribution in this brave new world of journalling.

I habitually cite my sources, even in conversation. This can become annoying. "I read someplace — I think it was in something by Heinlein, but I'm not sure — it could have been Asimov — anyway, I read that..." My favorite thing about hypertext is how you can easily cite your sources, but simply including them as links. If your source cites his source, then a chain of sources develops. But if you followed one link, which pointed you to another, which pointed you to another, and so on, all on the same topic, and you eventually cite the last source, how do you convey this to your reader? How do you expose the path your research has taken? What elements combine to form your synthesis?

On the one hand, there's that aspect of attribution. On the other, I'm reminded of when the literate world was smaller, and one could refer to a thing, and all would know to what you referred. Whereas now we need the annotated text to know that William Butler Yeats draws on the Revelations of John, or that Jesus liberally quotes the Hebrew prophets.

11:42:56 AM # Google It!
categories: Language, Writing Online