Armchair BEA -
The Ethics Committee Meets Today
Friday, May 31: Ethics & Non-Fiction
We get back into discussions on Friday with the heavy topic of ethics. Do you have recommendations to new bloggers to ensure credit is given to whom/where credit is due? Have you had an experience with plagiarism? How did you deal with it? What are the guidelines as bloggers that we must follow?
We bridge the genre gap from fiction to all things non-fiction. Do you read non-fiction? Why or why not? Is there a specific type of non-fiction that you prefer to read (i.e., historical, true crime, memoirs, biographies, etc.)? What is the perfect book for a first-time non-fiction reader?
I haven't personally wrote a post on review plagiarism. I have read others posts on it and seen upset feelings, hurt people, blogs being at war with each other, and flame fests. It's a shame that some people copy others hard work and try to pass it off on their own. I have to wonder why they are even wanting to own and create a site in the first place celebrating their love of books. If they don't want to share their own words, passions, and frustrations, then why make the site at all? It's not classy, it's rude, it's dishonorable, and it makes no psychological sense to me as a reader, web owner, and person.
I haven't personally had the experience of dealing with plagiarism. If it's happened to me, I don't know it yet.
Not knowing better I used to display artwork to share with others on the site gone by. I was not trying to pass it off as my own but share the image and marvel at it with others. I don't even do this now because I was surprised so many artists are against their work being displayed (even to advertise their stuff) without their consent. Now the images I use are typically bought, created, or if they are free I link back to the source and permission is given to use them on websites. I also use public domain images that are free for sharing.
For non-fiction I like religious experiences, herbals, and biographies. I also enjoy ghost stories and legends. Biographies speak to me highly because they are deep into the human life as it really exists, not created, and loans out courage and empathy.
