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Lesson
Seven:
Any information or outside source (print, electronic, video, interview, etc.) used in a research paper, essay, electronic presentation or speech which is not your own idea or creation must be cited or documented, giving credit to the original source. In this way you let your reader (in most cases this will be your professor) know which words, phrases, images and ideas are yours and which were taken from someone else. Documenting your resources provides a way for your reader to retrieve the sources you used. Your reader may be fascinated by the material and wish to read further, or he/she may question your use of the material and wish to look at the original source. Accurate documentation of the material will allow the reader to see if you have correctly interpreted the original source. Additionally, when you document sources, you help to establish a reputation as a competent researcher and writer. Your reader will see that you have used information from credible sources. Presenting another's words or ideas as your own (i.e., not documenting them) is called plagiarism. This form of intellectual theft may range from an intentional purchase of a term paper to the intentional or unintentional and inadvertent failure to use proper documentation in your paper. In either case, plagiarism is a serious academic offense and can lead to serious consequences. Closely related to issues of documentation and plagiarism, but on a commercial level, is the entire issue of copyright protection of intellectual property which has become an area of much controversy in the digital era. At its most basic level, copyright law ensures that "authors" have exclusive rights to protect their creative efforts. The item protected must be a tangible one, i.e., a work on paper, whether it be a book, periodical article, or poem, a piece of software, CDROM, recording, work of art or sculpture, web site, web audio file, web video file, web graphic image or the like. The item must also be creative, i.e., an alphabetical list of facts would generally not be copyrighted while a creative compilation of those same facts would be copyright protected. As new technologies associated with the Internet have emerged copyright laws have struggled to keep pace with them. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 was signed into law by President Clinton on October 28, 1998. The DMCA attempts to protect owners of electronic copyright but the nature of the Internet and the easy way information can be duplicated and dispersed has made this a very difficult task. You should consider everything on the Internet as copyright-protected unless the item is in the public domain (such as federal government publications) or the author expressly gives permission for duplication/reproduction. The site, image, file, etc. does not have to display a copyright notice; if it is on the Internet it is protected. The "fair use" exemption to copyright law was created to allow for educational use of copyrighted works without having to ask for permission from the author. Fair use allows you to incorporate web items into your reports, speeches, electronic presentations and the like as long as you properly document the source, the item used is a short excerpt, and your usage does not harm the commercial value of the source. It is also considered acceptable and legal to provide a link to a web site, audio file, video file and the like. What is not acceptable and not legal is reproducing without permission something that you did not create, whether it be for commerical gain or not. The following sites will help you keep on top of the copyright issue.
General Rules of Documentation There are a number of documentation "styles" currently in use by researchers. Many disciplines have very specific rules concerning documentation which must be followed. Two documentation styles used by a number of disciplines are those published by the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA). The APA style is used primarily by disciplines in the social sciences, health and education fields while the MLA style is used primarily by disciplines in the arts, humanities, literature and the like. This lesson provides information on proper documentation of electronic sources from both the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) and will provide examples for the types of electronic sources commonly used by students. Some general rules which apply to both styles include the following:
o If material is commonly known to be true it does not need to be documented, even if you found the material in an outside source.
APA Documentation of Internet Resources The APA citation for a document obtained over the Internet will be similar in format to a comparable print document with some elements added and some omitted. Audio files, video files and graphic images have become increasingly available on the Internet and can be imported into electronic presentations/reports such as PowerPoint. These sites also need to be documented. You should include as many of the following available elements in the order given. For some sites you may only have a title, date of access and address to cite.
The following APA references cite some typical Internet sites which provide information on television violence. Aidman, A. (1997). Television violence: Content, context, and consequences. ERIC Digest. Retrieved June 22,1999 from the World Wide Web: http://ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed414078.html Blumenthal, R. What parents can do about TV violence. Retrieved June 22, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.cslnet.ctstate.edu/ attygenl/tvtips.htm Byrd, R.C. (1996, April 17).Protecting children from a bad influence. Retrieved June 22, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.senate.gov/~byrd/ bev-chip.htm Television violence. (1996, June). Parent News. Retrieved June 22, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://ericps.ed.uiuc.edu/npin/pnews/pnew696/ pnew696a.html The following APA references cite some typical audiovisual or graphic Internet sites which provide information on television violence. The APA has not issued an official format to follow for Internet audiovisual sources; these examples are as similar as possible to the original source format with the addition of the Internet information. Bushman, B.J. (1998, December 4). Effects of violence in television ads. [Audiotape]. In Online NewsHour. Retrieved June 15, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://psych-server.iastate.edu/faculty/bbushman/pubs.htm CNN. [Videotape]. (1999, May 18). Retrieved June 15, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://fastv.altavista.com/default.cfm?p99_0518_ 09222664 Study finds more violence in prime-time TV shows.[Image]. (1998, April 16). CNN. Retrieved June 15, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://gabrielmedia.org/ news/tv_violence.html APA
style dictates that personal communications, including e-mail and information
obtained from a newsgroup, be cited in the text of the report rather than in
the references list. The format to follow is: APA Documentation of Subscription-Based Resources The citation for a full-text article obtained from a subscription-based database such as EBSCO Academic Search Elite, FirstSearch, Health Reference Center Academic and the like will be similar in format to a comparable one from a print source with some information added and some omitted. You should include as many of the following available elements in the order listed.
The following APA references are typical of the type of full-text periodical articles on television violence which can be found through subscription databases available in Florida community college LRCs. Cesarone, B. (1998). Television violence and children. Childhood Education, 75,56-58. Retrieved July 7, 1999 from FirstSearch database (WilsonSelect) on the World Wide Web: http://www. ccla.lib.fl.us Kantrowitz, B. & Contreras, J. (2000, February 7). Is this too raw for kids? Newsweek, 135, 52. Retrieved June 14, 2000 from EBSCO database (Academic Search Elite) on the World Wide Web: http://www.ccla.lib.fl.us Strasburger, V.C. & Donnerstein, E. (1999, January).Children, adolescents and the media: Issues and solutions. Pediatrics, 103,129+. Retrieved June 14, 2000 from Health Reference Center Academic database on the World Wide Web: http://www.ccla.lib.fl.us MLA Documentation of Internet Resources The MLA citation for a document obtained over the Internet will be similar in format to a comparable print document with some information added and some omitted. Audio files, video files and graphic images have become increasingly available on the Internet and can be imported into electronic presentations/reports such as PowerPoint. These sites also need to be documented. You should include as many of the following available elements in the order given. For some sites, you may only have a title, date of access and address to cite.
The following "works cited" are typical of the types of sites dealing with television violence which you might find on the Internet: Aidman, Amy. "Television Violence: Content, Context and Consequences." ERIC Digest. 1997. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. 13 July 1999. <http://ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ ed414078.html>. Blumenthal, Richard. What Parents Can Do About TV Violence. 13 July 1999. <http://www.cslnet. ctstate.edu/attygenl/tvtips.htm>.Byrd, Robert C. Protecting Children From a Bad Influence. 1996. 13 July 1999. <http://www. senate.gov/~byrd/bev-chip.htm>."Television Violence." Parent News. 1996. 13 July 1999. <http://ericps.ed.uiuc.edu/ npin/pnews/pnew696/pnew696a.html>.
The following "works cited" are typical of the audiovisual or graphic Internet sites which provide information on television violence. The MLA has not issued an official format to follow for Internet audiovisual sources; these examples are as similar as possible to the original source format with the addition of the Internet information. Bushman, Brad. "Effects of Violence in Television Ads." Online NewsHour. 4 Dec. 1998. Audiotape. 15 June 2000. <http://psych-server.iastate.edu faculty/bbushman/pubs.htm>.CNN. 18 May 1999. Videotape. 15 June 2000. <http://fastv.altavista.com/default.cfm? p99_0518_09222664>.Study Finds More Violence in Prime-Time TV Shows. 16 Apr. 1998. Image. 15 June 2000. <http://gabrielmedia.org/news/tv_ violence.html>.
Personal communications, including e-mail and postings to newsgroups are listed in the Works Cited list. Use the following formats. DeLisle, Judi. "MLA Documentation." E-mail to Denise English and Christal Wood. 14 July 1999.
The sequence for e-mail documentation is sender; "subject line"; E-mail to recipient(s); date. Simpson, Karen. "Research Strategies." Online posting. 12 July 1999. WebBoard. 15 July 1999. <http://test.valencia. cc.fl.us:8080/~lis2004>.
The sequence for newsgroup documentation is: sender; "subject line"; the phrase Online posting; date of posting; name of newsgroup; date the posting was read; address of newsgroup. MLA Documentation of Subscription-Based Resources The citation for a full-text periodical article obtained from a subscription-based database such as EBSCO Academic Search Elite, FirstSearch, Health Reference Center and the like will be similar in format to a comparable one from a print source with some information added and some omitted. You should include as many of the following elements in the order listed.
The following MLA "works cited" are typical of the type of full-text periodical articles on television violence which can be found through subscription databases available in Florida community college LRCs. Cesarone, Bernard. "Television Violence and Children." Childhood Education 75(Fall 1998). FirstSearch WilsonSelect. 13 July 1999. <http://www.ccla.lib.fl.us>.Kantrowitz, Barbara and Joseph Contreras. "Is This Too Raw for Kids?" Newsweek 7 Feb. 2000. EBSCO Academic Search Elite.16 June 2000. <http://www.ccla.lib.fl.us>. Strasburger, Victor C. and Edward Donnerstein. "Children, Adolescents, and the Media: Issues and Solutions." Pediatrics Jan. 1999. Health Reference Center Academic. 16 June 2000. <http://www.ccla.lib.fl.us>.
Complete Exercise Seven after reading Lesson 7. It is worth a total of 5 points. Copyright © 1997-1999 Florida Community College |
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