Noted Here and There ...

by Cliopatria

At the end of the semester, almost everyone is talking about plagiarism – either ours or our students'. Dr. History confronted a student with evidence that he'd plagiarized from a web site."Well it took me a long time to find it," said the student,"so I thought no one else would know." Clue to student: Dr. History has been through graduate school in history. She's learned to look under every nook and cranny for evidence – even evidence about the quality of your work.

Speaking about the quality of our work, Bridget at Fear of a Female Planet looks at a decade of discussion about the quality of an important book in the history of science and suggests that the future of the history of science department at Harvard hangs in the balances. Hat tip to Nathanael Robinson at the Dictionary of Received Ideas.

In the New York Times, Maureen Dowd has a great send up of Donald Rumsfeld starring in"It's a Wonderful Life." Hat tip to Common Sense at Liberty & Power.

James Carroll has a thoughtful essay,"God's Clock," in the Boston Globe.

If you are not enjoying the beauty of misteraitch's Giornale Nuovo, you should be. I also love the rich visual qualities of wood s lot's site. It is more overtly political than misteraitch, but where do these guys come up with these names for themselves?

Finally, my colleague, Jonathan Dresner, joined Cliopatria a year ago today. We owe him a great deal for our success. Happy anniversary, Jon!

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Andrew Ackerman - 12/22/2004

Yeah, alright, that's a much better argument than mine.

Jonathan Dresner - 12/21/2004

Actually, I thought this was a rather new cliche.

It's not a new phrase, dating back a century or more, but as Ralph uses it it's probably not more than a year or two from becoming common.

It's a very interesting phrase, actually, combining the obligation of citation with the collegial expression of gratitude and respect (tipping ones' hat, after all, is a form of respectful salutation). Very efficient, semantically speaking, and very much reflective of the blogging world as a community rather than a rarified discourse or mere nattering and gossip.

I might have to start using it myself.

Andrew Ackerman - 12/21/2004

New year. New opportunities. Abandon old cliches.

Ralph E. Luker - 12/21/2004

He's off getting new information for us over at FreeRepublic.

Andrew Ackerman - 12/21/2004

Where's Richard Henry Morgan when you need him?

Ralph E. Luker - 12/21/2004

Andrew, dear, You'd be hard pressed to convince me that you _can_ plagiarize anything less than about five words in a row. Otherwise, every time I said "Glenn Reynolds" or "Andrew Sullivan" or "President Bush" you'd call it plagiarism. "Hat tip to ..." would be a cliche', not plagiarism.

Andrew Ackerman - 12/21/2004

You were plagiarizing yourself and practically every other blogger.

Ralph E. Luker - 12/21/2004

Gotcha! My sense is that plagiarism isn't what you meant to call me on. It was my hackneyed, cliche'-ridden prose. Touche'.

Andrew Ackerman - 12/21/2004

As ranking Cliopatriarch, you ought to be the English-language walla of your blogging kingdom. There's too much hattipping going on so usher in the new year with a new turn of phrase. How 'bout curtsy? Actually, that would make you sound like a five-year-old girl. Genuflect? Too obsequious, perhaps. "Nod," as in "... with a nod to x." That would be appropriate. I'm just saying, mix it up. Just saying.

Ralph E. Luker - 12/20/2004

A hat tip is a citation of a source. A source cited doesn't necessarily mean that you've avoided plagiarism, but it's a good faith effort that allows the reader to see for herself whether language or ideas are stolen without full and proper attribution. Get off my back!

Andrew Ackerman - 12/20/2004

aren't you bloggers plagiarizing yourselves with all of these "hat tips"?

Richard Henry Morgan - 12/20/2004

I'm not familiar with the primary sources, but I've read Biagioli's book about three times, and a model of concision it ain't. In fact, you cut could it by a third just by removing the repetition.

Just what is going on there? What school would want to keep a professor who pulls a power play like that? And the Dean jumping in and taking sides? What the hell? The Shapinites have taken over any number of "Science Studies" graduate programs, now they've got their sights on the crown jewels, taking it over by subversive methods. I hope Harvard wakes up.

W. Caleb McDaniel - 12/20/2004

[mightily] YAWP! [/mightily]

(Oh, and thanks for the link to the Carroll piece, Ralph. Oh, and congrats, Jonathan.)

Jonathan Dresner - 12/20/2004

You know, blogging with Cliopatria the last year reminds me a great deal of what I enjoyed about graduate school. A bunch of smart folks, with overlapping interests, doing their own thing with a lot of cross-talk and support. I've learned an immense amount about doing history this last year. Like graduate school, there's a fair bit of shouting into the void, too....

Thanks folks!