In a message dated 11/21/2004 2:07:20 AM Mountain Standard Time, traverso@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