In a message dated 11/21/2004 2:07:20 AM Mountain Standard Time,
traverso(a)dm.unipi.it writes:
>>- assume that you want to quote a book that you have >>only in a paper
>> edition; to quote it in your style, you need to manually >>count the
>> paragraphs, both when quoting and when checking a quotation;
>> wouldn't the standard way of quoting pages of a >>reference edition
>> (usually, the only edition) be better?
>>Of course, you said:
>> Anne> Would not this serve most purposes?
>>Yes, most maybe, but not all. And most is not enough.
>>You said also
>> Anne> to other texts as well. (I hope my underlining shows up in
>> Anne> all email.)
>>No, it doesn't. Here too you are assuming that other >>people use the
>>>>same tools that you use. A good tool is one that adapts itself to an
>>unknown situation, and does not make assumptions. >>Discarding page
>>numbers in reference works makes assumptions on >>other people's working
??methods; the result is a less flexible tool.
There's another problem here, that YOU are
missing, and it is this:
PG does not have control of all etexts.
Whether the total number of free etexts online is
40,000, as I estimate, or 100,000, as Michael
estimates, the fact remains that PG does not
have all etexts, or a majority of etexts, or even a
plurality of etexts.
I keep track of every etext site I hear of, and I check
all of them out. Only those few that post page scans,
and there are very few of them, make original
page numbers available. If I am looking for a book
and I can find only page scans of it, I won't download
it unless I desperately want it and can't find it anywhere
else, because I don't like to fiddle around with putting
the pages together to read. Some years ago I wanted
a specific edition of the Qur'an, and had to download
it sura by sura. It took me a lot more hours to put it
together than I wanted to expend on that task.
So a documentation method that works only for
page scans and/or full texts that include page
numbers is unusable for more texts than it is
usable for
Also, I don't want to say that all, or even most,
reference books come in only one edition.
My Oxford Guide to American Literature is
fifth edition, and I'm almost certain there's now
a sixth edition available. My Granger's Index to Poetry
is eighth edition and I think it is two editions old; I know
it is at least one. My Larousse English/German dictionary is
dated 2000 and MIGHT be current, except for the
fact that it uses the "new" German spelling, and
I think I read online that the "old" spelling is back in
use. Most astronomy, physics, biology, geography, and
geology texts are out of date by the time they roll
off the press, and by the time they make their way
online they are so hideously out of date that anyone
relying on them would be in trouble.
Of the solutions proposed, the one I like best is the
suggestion that the person doing the paper could
include with it the URL of, or a link to, the specific
reference book used, and to make sure it doesn't
change, that person should put the source on
his or her own Website and link to it there. But
even THAT won't work for purchased ebooks.
I think we'll probably flounder around for another
ten to twenty years before a workable permanent
solution is devised. But all the flaming and/or
condescension in the world isn't going to help
a bit.
I apologize for my flaming yesterday. I try not
to blow up but sometimes I do it anyway.
Anne
