A few days ago while browsing the blogs I came across a very pertinent post on the issue of plagiari...
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A few days ago while browsing the blogs I came across a very pertinent post on the issue of plagiarised posts on Sulekha. Due to a glitch I was unable to post my detailed comments,hence this post as showcase of my views.Basically ,it seems one of us Sulekhaites had wrongly attributed a very well written article to him/herself,without having written a single word(less of course the typing/copying part).
Why would that person have done such a thing?Ergo,its most likely a case of succumbing to the temptation of catching up with the joneses'!! After all , on Sulekha we have a vast pool of highly talented writers,some simply outstanding,others good,some patchy(like me) and some readable(sic).
Now would'nt we all like to be part of the first category? Of course, who does not enjoy the adulation or praise of contemporaries?Who among us,does not look forward to a comment that says that your write up was witty,gr8,impressive,god forsooth - intelligent,or, if you get one from the girls .. a big muuuuaaah with lots of smileys- yes !!days made!!Also ,we must not forget the Mandarins of Team Sulekha,especially when they send that note" your blog has been showcased"- what an ego boost, for after all , we do write for recognition.
I mean, in my short sojourn on this wonderful network,I have come to the conclusion that 99.9 percent of us have a novel inside us ,while the balance have already penned one.
So to my mind this was an attempt to look good,pose as intellectually gifted or perhaps it was a case of forgetfulness- that is being afflicted by amenesia and forgetting to attribute the source( really??).
On Sulekha, we all masquerade! We use pen names,screen names ,no addresses,no IDs,no phone Nos etc.
On Sulekha, we weave a web of our imagination,we fuel it with our dreams,we choose issues to comment ,open our hearts on issues that touch us,please us,tease us,light up our lives,fire our passions ,or, make us pause and ponder awhile.
On Sulekha, we make friends with perfect strangers,our basic bond being the power of the written word,whether those words are a clinically precise analysis ,or, the varied takes on the "Express Yourself" contests on bucolic scenes of pastoral delights ,personal posts and many more.
For the Sulekha experiance to happen, one aspect of critical and central importance is that of "Honour Amongst Thieves". Our judgement of another person, his/her likes,dislikes,views,personality are all based on the premise that what he or she posts is an original effort or that it is attributed correctly.Blogs are our very own creations,our original efforts,inextricably wedded to the strands of our creative DNA, which makes them utterly unique ,not just to our own eyes,but also to those of others.
Blogs require subjects,ideas and these will continue to be borrowed,in some cases misappropriated,to be seen by others from different perspectives,prisms and lenses.This is a historical fact,not limited to the blogiverse.There will be some lovely quote or an article somewhere that we would like to qoute ,showcase ,referance or incorporate -- fine, but we must have the integrity to attribute.
The author of the blog " plagiarism on sulekha" ( I do not remember the exact title ,but will gladly acknowledge it in case one of you could kindly point out), has most sagaciously pointed out that team Sulekha must establish a system to check the practise,especially once they have been notified about it. I think that this is a very fair call.
What about action against these " PLAGI- BLOGGERS" ( my own concoction)? Well , I think that guidance would be a better option than penalisation or ostracisation.Nonetheless , the Sulekha Mandarins must take a call on the issue,that is if they have'nt done so already.
More importantly,so should we.. after all we power Sulekha!!
Let us not allow the imperfections of the physical world cast its dark shadows in this lovely community of netizens.
Honour Amongst Thieves
Q
(I would be greatful for a link to the article I have referred to,I saw it about a week / 10 days ago, it is a very good article)
PS: I thank yash chabra for his prompt and helpful note containing the link to MY utterances blog http://my-utterances.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/03/has-sulekha
-featured-a-plagiarized-post.htm
PPS: I recommend a reading of my utterances post as it reflects our collective distress on the issue.
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Hello QM
Nicely articulated.
<Blogs are our very own creations,our original efforts,inextricably wedded to the strands of our creative DNA, which makes them utterly unique ,not just to our own eyes,but also to those of others>
Very well said. We may all masquerade, but our writings reveal bits and pieces of our personality.I had read MU's blog on plagiarism sometime back and if I remember right, the plagiarised blog had been featured/showcased. After MU's blog and reader outrage, Team Sulekha removed the blog from the featured blogs, but the blog itself remained in the blogger's page. But atleast some action was taken.
Regards
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A very good analysis. (Happy I came here. going to read all your blogs today).I remember writing, long ago, a blog on plagiarism. I think it was called Dishonour Among the Honourable. This is a disease that ails quite a few !!
very well written..
Quasi...
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Dear CB,
I agree.As it is you are very scrupulous on the aspect mentioned,but F-Blogs( :)) ?? ) is a good category,pun intended,as is the suggestion on TAGs
Q
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Maybe we need yet another category "Forwardiblog" (or F-Blogs?) through which we can share interesting items which may be of interest to other members.
I "plead guilty' to posting a lot of F-Blogs - as I have a lot of useful material in the archives of my eZine Caravan.com (and as its in its 8th year that's a lot of stuff!) - though I do take care to provide the original reference of the author its not possible to do so for some items which were taken from email forwards. I also use quotations (duly attributed of course) to string together and highlight a particular theme (for some time this was adopted by me as the preamble to Caravan Editions).
As I'm an avid reader I find that some posts are taken from compilations like "Chicken soup series'. Even Shiv Khera's books contain a lot of such material where direct references are not available for quoting & attributing (and he in fact did face a charge of plagiarism for his 2nd or 3rd book).
This raises the question as to why people indulge in this malpractice - some are already listed by you; primary being seeing their name (or pseudonyms) on the front page.
Maybe we introduce a standard TAG - Original or Outsourced - as a compulsory tag for all.
~CB alias HR Puri, Bhopal
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dear seeing eye,
hi,how was mother's day for you as well as for your mom?Thanks for the visit.I think it is to do with pretensions of intellectual richness,while to most us these things don't really matter,after all we are in for fun.
Q
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dear pbs,
I think it is to do with that observation of mine that we judge one another by means of the content (original), and a lot of us are uninterested in basic reportage?
Q
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Hi Q, what's up??
Must go see for myself....I agree that plagiblogs hurt, I wonder at the compulsion!!!
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I have a funny problem. When I write original stuff, I get plent of votes, comments and views.
But the other day, I posted a live speech by Prof. C K Prahalad (much before the newspapers did) on his Vion for India@75.
I was amazed by the lack of views and comments!
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dear kumud,
to be lined in that gallery which has only one resident,the great Rabindra Nath Tagore.. a little too much!! :)) .so ready for another day,up early?
Q
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That is I am a DACOIT boldly telling you all I have robbed so and so. Since you are issuing certificate that I am not commiting any culpable crime this time I shall steal from you. So beware!
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