June 19

For writing into the day, we answered questions about Wikipedia (see slide 97 on the PowerPoint).  Then, we had the following discussion:

• You can use it as a start to your research.  But it’s not as reliable because people can go in and change it.
• Certain information might not be true or accurate.  So you can’t believe everything that is on there.  But some stuff is true.
• The pros are it’s easily accessible.  It’s kind of reliable and informative.  The con is it’s kind of biased.  You can’t really tell if it’s factual or not because it’s got a lot of opinions.
• I know someone who is an editor of Wikipedia.  He has to double check all of the sources and verify them.  It has a list of sources at the end so you can check them.
• You can use Wikipedia as a source to get background information.  Then, you can follow the sources at the bottom of the page.  Those sources might be credible sources that you can actually use in your paper.

In groups, we read “Understanding Plagiarism” and defined plagiarism in our own words.  In those same groups, we discussed the questions on slide 99 on the PowerPoint.

Definitions:

• Taking someone’s work without giving credit.  Using another’s ideas as your own if you don’t recognize or quote the author.  Theft of ideas.
• A lazy illegal and immoral way of using someone else’s information in your paper
• Using another person’s ideas, information or expression in your paper without giving them proper credit or passing another person’s idea off as your own
• Presenting someone else’s ideas, concepts or data as your own without proper citations

Answers to questions:

• Anytime you use someone’s idea, give them proper credit.  You put it in quotations.  Even if you switch the words around, you have to give them credit.
• More importantly, you need to cite when you use information that is uncommon.  You don’t have to cite when it’s common knowledge

• No you don’t have to cite the original source.  You might not even use the sentence. You can just take the idea you got.
• We do that on a daily basis all the time anyway.  We get ideas from other’s words all the time.
• People patent and copy right ideas.  Once that idea is copy-righted, if you take it, it’s stealing.
• It’s not plagiarism because you aren’t using the words from the article.  But you could reference it.
• I automatically feel like I have to cite it and reference it.  When I expand on it, that’s when my idea comes through.
• It’s a matter of forming your own opinion.  You’re not taking anything directly from the article.  You are forming your own opinion or idea.  

• Yes, because it is the original source.
• No, because they didn’t give me the idea.
• Yes, because Rick Ross tried to use his name from a drug dealer.  The drug dealer was upset that he took it.  It’s borrowing an idea.
• You should have found it when you were doing your research. 
• The goal of a research paper isn’t necessarily to introduce new ideas.  It’s always safer to cite it. 

• No, you can’t.  It’s your work.
• Yes.  In school. you can plagiarize yourself if you’re repeating your own ideas into another paper or assignment.  If you’re reusing your ideas, you’re plagiarizing yourself.
• So, I need to cite myself?  Yes.
• How would I do that?  It’s not published. 
• You’d use the information you do have.  Use that in your citation.  Leave off what you don’t have.
• Maybe it comes from trying to pass an assignment you did for another class for the new class, it’s plagiarism.  It’s cheating.

• It’s common if most people know it.
• It’s common sense.
• Something that is the norm.
• Common sense is when it’s not a complex idea.  When it’s something that is a simple fact.
• Something that occurs in society.

• It should be because you are using other people’s ideas and words.
• Is it different because I am just a college student and other people are published?
• Workshopping isn’t rewriting a paper. It’s expanding on what they already have.
• You sort of automatically have permission to use what the people give you in workshopping because they gave you the advice.
• In published work, you can’t ask if you can take it.
• Workshopping isn’t rewriting the paper.  It’s having them expand their ideas.

Then, we went over slide 100 to discuss what plagiarism is in academia.

Finally, we discussed how to complete dialogic journal and practiced with the source we brought in today.

Homework:

• Bring "Working Source Material into Your Argument" (on Moodle)
• Bring Examples for Using Sources handout (on Moodle)
• Bring MLA handout (on Moodle)

*Note: I have switched the activities for June 20 and June 24.  We will talk about quotations on June 20 and paraphrasing/summarizing on June 24.

*Note: On June 25, you will need to have completed all dialogic journals on your three secondary sources and bring them to class.