Observations on Copyright Law

I have added a link to the left that discusses many important topics concerning copyright law. Plagiarism is at the top of the list. The site also gets into the fair use guidelines; photocopy machines; copying on the Internet; international problems; and future directions for copyright law. Does anything mentioned grab your attention? Please post your comments.

Plagiarism Guidelines

I know it's been a while since my last posting, but I've been extremely busy with the opening of the new school year, tutoring, and completing work for my Master's program in Library Science. Before I discuss the guideines for plagiarism, perhaps I should explain what it is. In simple terms, plagiarism occurs when you use words, ideas, or any information from a source other than your own knowledge and experience, and fail to properly cite the information source. Probably 90% of the population is guilty of plagiarism at some point in their lives because it is often unintentional. For example, a writer could have a citation for a source, but if the source is improperly credited, it is still considered plagiarism. There is a very fine line that can't be crossed to avoid this problem. Here are some examples of actions that constitute plagiarism:

Downloading and turning in a paper from the web or paper mill

Copying or pasting phrases, sentences, or paragraphs into your own work without citation

Paraphrasing a source's words or ideas without citation

Including a graph, table or picture from a source without citation

Getting so much help from a tutor that you can't truly call your paper your own

Turning in previously written work when that practice is prohibited by your instructor


*Using Sources Effectively pg. 14

Picking a topic

Just finished the first chat session for LS 532. We were told we had to set up a blog dealing with the concept of copyright. After thinking about the topic for a few minutes, I thought I would start by discussing copyright and plagiarism guidelines for students. Being a member of the Master's cohort, I have been told early and often that plagiarism will not be tolerated when submitting papers. Thus I feel the need to be very informed of these guidelines. I'll check back a little later to post my thoughts on the guidelines after reading them.