Source Citation Ideas
From SimTeach
Second Life is a new medium where the normal methods of citation often used in academia may have to be reinterpreted or applied in new ways. Please list here the methods you use in SL to document sources of images, notecard text etc so that we may all learn to be more rigorous about proper documentation.
I would like to see a designer create a "citation" tool in the pie chart for all object interactions. It could bring up a notecard, URL or teleport if necessary? Objects that do not use the Linden pie chart interactions can have a specially designated symbol object/tool (very small, but easily recognizable so as not to interfere with artistic aesthetics) nearby that will provide the user with a notecard or other tool, listing the citations. I think an inworld tool that is completely optional is the best solution for faculty & students, but I do think that we need to make this as simple and easy as possible for the educators creating the objects.
Professor Lilliehook
In theory, we could have on the pie menu after more, more 2 "citations" options on that pie menu (there is space for them). One for "obtain citations" the other for "copy my citation to clipboard" or similar.
My issue with the former is that it has the potential to cause a lot of headaches. Consider a video screen in SL that you use to show videos in class. All it does it link to a series of URLs. Does the "obtain citations" menu list them all? Show just the current video's citation etc? The system also requires quite a lot of "smart" implementation. An apparently outworldly similar object that hands out notecards which, for whatever reason, contain objects which are cited, does it cite the cards (which could be relatively automatically done, or the citations in the cards? If you add a "scene rezzer" concept you then add citable objects and so on.--Eloise 08:34, 7 July 2007 (PDT)
What kinds of media should be cited in SL?
- Photos: from what sources? by what methods?
- Video: from what sources? by what methods?
- Text: from what sources? by what methods?
All of the above. There are norms for citing all of these, that vary by your preferred citing system. Trying to implement a single citing method across SL will doom this to failure, because, as well know, if we're going to seriously publish anything each journal will have its own preferred citation method that the author(s) will have to adhere to. What we should aim at doing is establishing firmly the concept that educational activities in SL have the same standards of citing sources that other educational materials have. To the list above:
- Objects in SL. What information should be in the citation? See below. --Eloise 08:34, 7 July 2007 (PDT)
What kinds of media should not need to be cited in SL?
- "Common knowledge" just like RL.
- "Background chatter" - the citing needs to be relevant. Let's assume I'm taking a photo in SL for some reason, which I intend to use as a figure in a paper or classroom materials, and it's something that makes it, in my opinion, need a citation: It's a picture of an educational build I wish to cite correctly. I need to be citing that build, not every tree that you can see, unless, of course, the tree is the educational build that needs citing.--Eloise 08:34, 7 July 2007 (PDT)
How do you currently cite content in SL?
- Is a notecard in an object's content with a link to the online source or a bibliographic entry enough?
(Radhika - I think a notecard with clear citations should be enough - the point of citation to me is to give credit where it is due and to protect against accusations of plaguerism and copyright violation. SL is a medium for writing as much as texts produced through video, word or any other form, and the citation process should be user friendly within the mediated context)
- Is an object containing a list of citations for all objects, effectively a bibliography or references section suitable? Sufficient on its own? A useful addition to the embedded notecard? --Eloise 08:34, 7 July 2007 (PDT)
What kinds of content do you need to cite but can't find a satisfactory method to do so?
- Builds in SL. I both want to have my builds cited when used, and to be able to cite those of other people for reference or for acknowledgment. My current list would be creator if available, owner, SLURL, date visited.
- Notecards. I guess here I'm looking at creator, creation data (date and time), acquisition data, name as the available data. UUID is available if the card is full permissions. Creation data is currently in the card's description field, but this can easily be overwritten.
- Scripts. Similar to Notecards above.
Does Labor contribution - that is the use of someone's scripting skills or scripted object and so on - in the making of particular objects need to be acknowleged clearly in the notecard?
(Radhika - I think it should!)
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also - what about the "mashup" concept in cyberculture - how do we incorporate giving credit where it is due in relation to these - Radhika
