RE: Clarification for Copyright to referred material in IETF draft

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

 



Without a date and time, a link to Wikipedia is to something
that anyone could change, at any time, to anything. (Unless
locked, but that's unlikely to be the case here.)

With a date and time, a link to Wikipedia is at least to a
well-defined piece of text. And in technical areas it is often
good. But there is no quality control or attribution, and
accounts of Wikipedia problems are widespread. I would and
do read such articles, but if the fact is important enough to
need to be referenced, I'd check it, and reference the checked
source. The sources I see as informative references (other
drafts, RFCs, other standards or known bodies, textbooks,
journal papers) almost always have passed higher standard tests.

Finally, this is in line with accepted academic practice. I'm
not an academic, but the last academic advice on the subject
that I've seen (reported by a student to me) was "if you
reference Wikipedia, I will fail you". Can anyone point to any
peer-reviewed paper in a reputable source with a Wikipedia
reference?

-- 
Christopher Dearlove
Technology Leader, Communications Group
Communications and Networks Capability
BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre
West Hanningfield Road, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, CM2 8HN, UK
Tel: +44 1245 242194  Fax: +44 1245 242124

BAE Systems (Operations) Limited
Registered Office: Warwick House, PO Box 87,
Farnborough Aerospace Centre, Farnborough, Hants, GU14 6YU, UK
Registered in England & Wales No: 1996687

-----Original Message-----
From: Julian Reschke [mailto:julian.reschke@xxxxxx] 
Sent: 14 December 2010 10:28
To: Dearlove, Christopher (UK)
Cc: Samir Srivastava; Ietf@xxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Clarification for Copyright to referred material in IETF
draft


                    *** WARNING ***

  This message has originated outside your organisation,
  either from an external partner or the Global Internet. 
      Keep this in mind if you answer this message.
 

On 14.12.2010 10:57, Dearlove, Christopher (UK) wrote:
> I would not consider that a link to Wikipedia is ever appropriate in
an
> IETF draft. If it were, then an exact date and time would need to be
> included in the reference, but I'd be unhappy even with that. (This is
> not for copyright reasons.)
> ...

Out of curiosity, and because there may be drafts in the pipeline having

links like that...: for which reasons?

(I see why we wouldn't want to cite anything *normatively* there, so you

don't need to explain that part...)

Best regards, Julian


********************************************************************
This email and any attachments are confidential to the intended
recipient and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended
recipient please delete it from your system and notify the sender.
You should not copy it or use it for any purpose nor disclose or
distribute its contents to any other person.
********************************************************************

_______________________________________________
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@xxxxxxxx
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


[Index of Archives]     [IETF Annoucements]     [IETF]     [IP Storage]     [Yosemite News]     [Linux SCTP]     [Linux Newbies]     [Fedora Users]