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Answers Etiquette: How to quote text better?
Let's set a standard for ourselves and for new users for the practice of copy/pasting? A lot of new users, and even some purple belts regularly paste text from other sources and don't make it clear that they are quoting. I think this possible future problem should be nipped at the bud.
First off, when you quote text you should quote no more then a couple paragraphs, and never entire body of texts. Please do not copy an entire article written by somebody else and paste it as your answer, just copy a relevant paragraph and link the user to the rest.
Second, when you copy/paste text, you need to separate it from your own text. In every answer you should try to offer as much of your own original text to go with what you copied. To separate the two I suggest "wrapping" the text like so...
---quote---
Copied text, Copied text, Copied text, Copied text,
Copied text, Copied text, Copied text, Copied text,
---/quote---
View it in action - http://www.mahalo.com/answers/education/why-does-daylight-savings-begin-at-2am#a468ed765467deb59d5fd5f4e9f34289c4c0a1773658414ceb6c80ac976608d0d
So join me in this etiquette crusade, if you have any comments or ideas by all means post away.
*No best answer selected as I tipped multiple answers
First off, when you quote text you should quote no more then a couple paragraphs, and never entire body of texts. Please do not copy an entire article written by somebody else and paste it as your answer, just copy a relevant paragraph and link the user to the rest.
Second, when you copy/paste text, you need to separate it from your own text. In every answer you should try to offer as much of your own original text to go with what you copied. To separate the two I suggest "wrapping" the text like so...
---quote---
Copied text, Copied text, Copied text, Copied text,
Copied text, Copied text, Copied text, Copied text,
---/quote---
View it in action - http://www.mahalo.com/answers/education/why-does-daylight-savings-begin-at-2am#a468ed765467deb59d5fd5f4e9f34289c4c0a1773658414ceb6c80ac976608d0d
So join me in this etiquette crusade, if you have any comments or ideas by all means post away.
*No best answer selected as I tipped multiple answers
No Best Answer Selected, Tip Refunded
1 answerers thought this was unfair.
1 answerers thought this was unfair.
answers (16)
Why not implement quote tags?
I think that will complicate the design a little. Folks prefer the non-WYSIWYG editor best because it's super fast. My gut tells me we should work on solutions that don't involve tags or buttons... keep it super simple, etc.
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Your standard is clear and simple. I will begin to follow suite.
I think we need quote tags in the app, I will *try* but not about to break my posting habits for one app of the many I use.
I prefer to use quotation marks, they're less intrusive and less geeky. And isn't that what they are for? The clue is in the name. :)
As in...
Jeff Hoard says:
"What I do when I copy/paste text, I do this...
---quote---
Copied text in here
---/quote---"
Apart from putting things in quote marks or otherwise identifying them as quotes, there are other issues, like...
- How big a chunk is it acceptable to quote?
- Can an answer be entirely made up of a quote?
- Do you need to take responsiblity for whether what is in the quote is actually valid?
I'm not sure there are simple answers to questions like that. But they are part of the difference between trustworthy research and yet another internet site full of junk.
As in...
Jeff Hoard says:
"What I do when I copy/paste text, I do this...
---quote---
Copied text in here
---/quote---"
Apart from putting things in quote marks or otherwise identifying them as quotes, there are other issues, like...
- How big a chunk is it acceptable to quote?
- Can an answer be entirely made up of a quote?
- Do you need to take responsiblity for whether what is in the quote is actually valid?
I'm not sure there are simple answers to questions like that. But they are part of the difference between trustworthy research and yet another internet site full of junk.
My only problem with quotation marks is that when you copy blocks of text, in many cases there are quotation marks within that text already, which could just makes it more confusing for the reader. My feeling is that that the
---Quote---
---/Quote---
Is big, obvious and it separates the quoted text from the rest of the answer.
---Quote---
---/Quote---
Is big, obvious and it separates the quoted text from the rest of the answer.
This is an important question for the Mahalo community.
I'd suggest, in response to philipy's q:
---quote---
- Can an answer be entirely made up of a quote?
---/quote---
It can, but it wouldn't be a quality answer. I'd say the responder should simply provide the link to the text instead of inserting the entire quote (as the whole answer).
OK, so now here's the animal (in this case dogs) in a hat image for your viewing pleasure...
I'd suggest, in response to philipy's q:
---quote---
- Can an answer be entirely made up of a quote?
---/quote---
It can, but it wouldn't be a quality answer. I'd say the responder should simply provide the link to the text instead of inserting the entire quote (as the whole answer).
OK, so now here's the animal (in this case dogs) in a hat image for your viewing pleasure...
source(s):
flikr photo credit: artofthegreyhound
flikr photo credit: artofthegreyhound
It was unfair to choose no best answer
Asker stated best answer would be awarded to silliest animal in a hat image...responders provided lots of images to chose from...not fair to chose 'no best answer' based upon stated criteria in question.
Asker stated best answer would be awarded to silliest animal in a hat image...responders provided lots of images to chose from...not fair to chose 'no best answer' based upon stated criteria in question.
Creative Commons by | El Caganer 
Great plan, I hope it catches on. 
I agree with your idea, and hope it becomes a standard on Mahalo Answers! 
"even some purple belts"
uhhh....actually, even some (or should I say "a") brown belt shamelessly copies and pastes from wiki.
I think a simple " and " at the end of the information, and at the bottom the source and link are sufficient
uhhh....actually, even some (or should I say "a") brown belt shamelessly copies and pastes from wiki.
I think a simple " and " at the end of the information, and at the bottom the source and link are sufficient
To be honest, I don't like the idea. It's... for lack of a better word... ugly. I would rather quote tags like most forums have, or just try to make my quotation marks clearer. Or to at least find a better looking way of doing it.
I do agree with the point, though. If we don't want new members copying and pasting without giving proper credit, we have to make sure that we make our quotes clear ourselves.
Edit: Here's my first attempt at making my quoting a little clearer. I'll keep playing around with it until I find my style.
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/current-events/first-baptist-church-maryville-il-shooting-fred-winter-why-did-he-get-shot
http://parrots4parties.com/images/parrot_in_a_hat-sm.jpg
I do agree with the point, though. If we don't want new members copying and pasting without giving proper credit, we have to make sure that we make our quotes clear ourselves.
Edit: Here's my first attempt at making my quoting a little clearer. I'll keep playing around with it until I find my style.
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/current-events/first-baptist-church-maryville-il-shooting-fred-winter-why-did-he-get-shot
I try to use quotes at the start and end, along with the source in the text from where I found it (which is not always on the internet) as well as a link, if there is one.
I do like Jeff's suggestion for making it clear that it's a quote when there might be other quotes inside the quote, for clarity's sake.
http://josh.yosh.org/travel/andes/andes_files/image315.jpg
The turtle on the left is wearing a butterfly hat, and no human was involved in putting it there!
But if human involvement is ok:
http://petesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/meloncat.jpg
I do like Jeff's suggestion for making it clear that it's a quote when there might be other quotes inside the quote, for clarity's sake.
The turtle on the left is wearing a butterfly hat, and no human was involved in putting it there!
But if human involvement is ok:
It only makes sense to add a source when you copy and paste. I've copied and pasted whole articles before, but I always add a source. Sometimes it would be better to simply put them in quotes or reference the information as follows.
The below information comes from the article "Name of Article" and then put it in quotes. I'm not saying that people are too lazy to go to the link, yet it sometimes is helpful when more information is available to the user. If you are going to use the information as a whole, add quotes, a source where it came from. Granted, nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes forgetting to add the source.
The below information comes from the article "Name of Article" and then put it in quotes. I'm not saying that people are too lazy to go to the link, yet it sometimes is helpful when more information is available to the user. If you are going to use the information as a whole, add quotes, a source where it came from. Granted, nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes forgetting to add the source.
It makes sense to lists sources for many reasons, like letting people know where you got your facts, or where they can learn more. Apart from anything else it gives them a reason to think your answer has some credibility.
A key reason to identify sources is that if people are going to rely on your conclusions they can at least check the facts and your understanding of them if they want to.
I agree it's not helpful to leave it to the the asker to visit the original source and hunt around it for what they wanted. There is every reason to pick out the relevant points, and maybe quote them from the source.
However rather than finding the relevant pieces, often a big article, most of which is not relevant to the question, is cut and pasted.
A key reason to identify sources is that if people are going to rely on your conclusions they can at least check the facts and your understanding of them if they want to.
I agree it's not helpful to leave it to the the asker to visit the original source and hunt around it for what they wanted. There is every reason to pick out the relevant points, and maybe quote them from the source.
However rather than finding the relevant pieces, often a big article, most of which is not relevant to the question, is cut and pasted.
As I recall from school, you could italicize or underline book titles. Is there a way to use an italicized font or enable underlining?
I have copied and pasted only twice online.....both times here. One was a huge list and another was a fairly descriptive sequence. Both times I used my source, but there is no technology I've found here to use any other font or color.
I have copied and pasted only twice online.....both times here. One was a huge list and another was a fairly descriptive sequence. Both times I used my source, but there is no technology I've found here to use any other font or color.
I tried using quote /quote tags here, and it seemed to hyperlink the tags while stripping out the square brackets, odd.
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/from-twitter/on-nokia-phones-there-is-a-flash-message-option-can-i-send-one-from-another-phone-by-inserting-certain-characters-into-my-text#
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/from-twitter/on-nokia-phones-there-is-a-flash-message-option-can-i-send-one-from-another-phone-by-inserting-certain-characters-into-my-text#
I usually will only use quotes when I find it absolutely necessary to include it in an answer or in any composition for that matter. Even then I'll limit what I use, and if I were to use multiple quotes, unless I needed them undivided, by using more than one sentence to support a single point, or specific idea, I would probably separate each of these quotes with my own words, in order to create the answer as original to my own individual idealistically formed answer, as possible. If I were to need more than a reasonable size paragraph in someone else's words, I would give the paragraph numbers along with the source location, and/or link. ( I don't see anything wrong with using ---quote--- , or other clear indicators).
This is of course, the way I like to conduct myself, and really don't care that much about how much of someone else's writing you are using, as long as they get credit for it somewhere on the same page, whether that means quotations, sources/links, or both.
What is a reasonable size to use & using parenthetical source tags, etc. is, I do believe, another story.
This is of course, the way I like to conduct myself, and really don't care that much about how much of someone else's writing you are using, as long as they get credit for it somewhere on the same page, whether that means quotations, sources/links, or both.
What is a reasonable size to use & using parenthetical source tags, etc. is, I do believe, another story.
@pensivefox I like your style! Original thoughts based on solid research with "tight" quotes is the best format--and the one that is going to be selected as best answer most often.
Also, folks who just copy and paste will lose 1,000 points when they get to brown belt and have to be "re-tested" when they get to brown belt level again. Everyone *must* be clear when the quote.
Also, folks who just copy and paste will lose 1,000 points when they get to brown belt and have to be "re-tested" when they get to brown belt level again. Everyone *must* be clear when the quote.
I think folks can have their own style for quoting as long as it's clear.
For my money I like when people use quotes. Like this:
CNN says "The moon is made of cheese because the mice who live on it like to eat cheese." http://www.cnn.com/micelikemooncheese
or
From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/cheeseeatingmoonrats
"The moon is made of cheese because the mice who live on it like to eat
cheese."
That's how journalists do it: they attribute the work and put the quote right after it.
The most important thing for me is that people do more than cut and paste other people's work. Quoting is just fine provided you're not taking the entire work and you're linking back to the person.
Original copy (words) is really what people need to add to their quoting. So, if someone asks what's the best selling beer in the world I think it's great to see a list from a New York Times story, but I would like it to have a little extra copy like "I found three stories that all confirm that Bud Light is the best selling beer in the world. Two stories reported that Snow from China is, with 1 billion gallons sold, the best selling beer in the world."
In other words, take the research and distill it down for me.
For my money I like when people use quotes. Like this:
CNN says "The moon is made of cheese because the mice who live on it like to eat cheese." http://www.cnn.com/micelikemooncheese
or
From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/cheeseeatingmoonrats
"The moon is made of cheese because the mice who live on it like to eat
cheese."
That's how journalists do it: they attribute the work and put the quote right after it.
The most important thing for me is that people do more than cut and paste other people's work. Quoting is just fine provided you're not taking the entire work and you're linking back to the person.
Original copy (words) is really what people need to add to their quoting. So, if someone asks what's the best selling beer in the world I think it's great to see a list from a New York Times story, but I would like it to have a little extra copy like "I found three stories that all confirm that Bud Light is the best selling beer in the world. Two stories reported that Snow from China is, with 1 billion gallons sold, the best selling beer in the world."
In other words, take the research and distill it down for me.
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