Quoting postings to this List

From: Edward Hobbs (EHOBBS@wellesley.edu)
Date: Fri Aug 11 1995 - 18:33:26 EDT


May I heartily second James Ernest's recommendation, that postings to
an unmoderated List should NEVER be cited in print, unless the author
has had a chance to refuse permission to quote or to revise for wider
publication. Ernest's reasons are quite valid. I myself have often
(on this List, too) stated things quite candidly, and sometimes
casually, that I would never commit to print, though I might well
state them among a group of scholars in the flesh. This is very
much a try-it-out, take-a-chance medium, where a reply I might
give over the phone can be posted; but what I say over the phone, thus
not edited, much less reflected on for 24 hours or six months, is NOT
the same as what I would be willing to commit to print.

I might add that several on this List have been good enough to ask my
permission to quote, and to offer a chance to revise if I do then grant
permission. I hope we can all observe these BASIC courtesies in
this fast-and-furious medium. [In my own case, I can't even edit
anything I write after I move on to the next line! At the minimum,
I would hope to proofread my own stuff!]

Many thanks to James Ernest for calling this to our attention.

Edward Hobbs
Wellesley College



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