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March 14, 2006
Tim discovers information reuse
Tim's preparing a presentation on sharks for his class. He's been using Google to find images. The Google results for requin seem to be safe for children.
He was having more trouble finding information. I pointed him to the French Wikipedia home page.
A few minutes later Tim said he'd finished his report, sending me the whole thing as email so I could print it on the computer upstairs. (I haven't shared the printer over the network because I don't want Tim and Emma to be the ones deciding how fast we go through paper and toner. The printer is mainly for Nath.)
As I gave him the page, I explained why we cite our sources, saying who did the work not just so other people know it's not ours, but also so that we ourselves know it's not our work and that we didn't make it up ourselves. I was more or less talking to myself. Tim had found some paragraphs that he could much more easily copy and paste than write himself. It was like the reaction I'd have if I suddenly found a cheap lawn mower that would do the job quickly while I sat down and read a book.
Wikipedia by the way is copylefted, meaning that if you reuse the work, you also have to share your content with the next user. Tim was interested in three sections on from the article on sharks: reproduction, danger to people, and vision.
Gmail curiously turned up a news feed hit next to Tim's mail about sharks, Is Your Manager Earning His Keep? over at Business Week online. The manager in question is your mutual fund manager.
Posted by Mark at March 14, 2006 08:52 PM
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