Wrinkle / Sources/quotes

From WhyNotWiki

Jump to: navigation, search

See also: Quotes (writing)

Contents

[edit] Wikitext

<% from_source Source.find(91) do %>
this whole quotation is from the source referenced above
<% end %>

This would take care of / ensure:

  • that the quote is properly set off from the rest of the text (indented, for example)
  • that an attribution/citation for the source is inserted, in some suitable (perhaps dynamically customizable) format, with a link to the page for that source
  • that it is clear where the source begins and ends
  • that this source's page would have a link back to this snippet (ensures bi-directionality of link)

Questions:

  • What if you wanted to make comments about the quote [for example, this one --ed.] within the quote itself? Then a reader might incorrectly assume that my comment was from the original quote, which of course it wasn't. (So inline within the quote do we need to be able to specify excluded regions, for example with excluded_from_source { } ?)

[edit] Discontiguous quotes

Maybe do it like the Cite extension (I think this is how they do it)...

You can enclose different regions with different begin/end tags, but they all specify the same name as an attribute of the HTML tag. And then they are stitched together server-side as a single quote (?).

[edit] For unsure quotes: Can provide alternate words/phrasing

I think he said "cause unrest" ... but maybe it was "create unrest". Well, now you can annotate that ambiguity/alternative.

See Feature to specify alternate words/phrasing

[edit] Pretty quotes (pull quotes)

w:Template:Cquote

[edit] Sources are inherited

So if I (A) quote someone else B who quotes someone else C, then I inherit C's sources for that section that I quoted from B who quoted from C.

This has several implications:

  • Granularity: Sources need to be tied to sections, not entire documents
  • n-handness of sources: Citations can be 1st-hand, 2nd-hand, etc.
  • License terms are inherited

[edit] Granularity: Sources need to be tied to sections, not entire documents

Just because I quote a section from source B doesn't mean I should inherit all of their sources used in the larger work that I cited from. I really should only inherit any sources/other metadata that apply to that particular section which I cited.

This means that that metadata must exist in my sources (or be added/inferred by me): for each source, we need a region (a start and end point) specified.

[edit] n-handness of sources: Citations can be 1st-hand, 2nd-hand, etc.

The lower the value of n, generally the more respected/trusted/reliable your work is. (You don't want to write a paper that has only 4th-hand citations!)

But by default, if you quote a quote from somebody else who quoted that quote, you add one level of separation between your document and the original source of that quote/material.

You can upgrade the n-handness of your citation though, by verifying the quote against the original quote and then changing your citation to point to it instead (it's okay to also mention where you originally found that quote; it's only the primary/main source of the citation we are changing, from B to be directly to original source C (B's original source).)

[edit] License terms are inherited

And it would be great if we had a tool which could automatically make a bunch of logical inferences for you... Telling you:

  • which license restrictions/freedoms you have inherited
  • which licenses are still options for distribution (if you cite from a GPL source, you can't distribute under BSD or public domain licenses, for example)

The reader should be able to -- with just one or two or zero clicks -- find out the ancestry / inherited baggage / licensing restrictions of a particular section/block of text and also be able to see the effective "total" license for your larger work (which all always be the most restrictive license that you are inheriting??)...

Retrieved from "http://whynotwiki.com/Wrinkle_/_Sources/quotes"
Personal tools