Words matter. Plagiarism and half-truths cost.

Plagiarism and fabrication have been concerns for hundreds of years, but the Internet has made them common-place. The Seven Library addresses these issues in many ways, including the lessons on plagiarism on the library web page. The following resources point out the high cost of using the words of others without proper citation or of fabricating “facts.”

Rick Bragg (author of All Over but the Shoutin’ [92 Bragg] ) is the well-known New York Times writer forced to resign for claiming he wrote stories which, in fact, he did not. Interns (“stringers”) covered news stories for Bragg, who then used their words under his by-line, as if he had written the pieces. Both Bragg and The New York Times suffered from this dishonesty.

Shattered Glass (DVD 791.43 Sha) presents the story of Stephen Glass, a prominent young news and feature journalist, whose reputation was destroyed when it was discovered that he made up interviews to support his stories, then quoted the interviews as if they were fact. The DVD includes a “60 Minutes” interview with the real Stephen Glass.

Kiss My Book, by Jamie Michaels (Fic Mic), is a fiction book about a girl who sold her first book at age fifteen and got a movie deal, then publicly was accused of plagiarism. She had copied the book, and was crushed when the truth came out. She found how costly plagiarism could be and wondered if people would ever trust her again.

Other people’s words: What plagiarism is and how to avoid it, by Barbara Francis (808 Fra), presents true stories of plagiarism, fabrication, and hoax. She discusses the ease with which people can plagiarize, the cost of doing so, and how to avoid the risks.

Two New Resources Available on Headwaters

NoodleBib

Do you have a hard time remembering what to include in your bibliographies? Can’t recall whether to use a period, a comma, or a colon? Well maybe the library’s link to NoodleBib will be your saving grace.

NoodleBib is an interactive subscription service that will help you create bibliographies in MLA or APA format. You will need to log on using the usual library password that all Admirals know, and then create your own personal ID. NoodleBib has two levels of difficulty geared toward middle or upper school students. It will walk you through the process of creating bibliographies by asking you what you want to add to your bibliography (book, web site, journal, etc.), and then providing the appropriate blanks for you to fill in. And when you are finished entering your information, NoodleBib will format your citations, put them in the correct order, and create a list for you to export into Microsoft Word.

Give it a try, and let us know what you think about it.

Marshall Cavendish Digital – Animal and Plant Anatomy

Wondering what the intestines of an earthworm look like? Curious about Elephant respiration? Then take a look at our new digital service from Marshall Cavendish. It provides color charts, maps, photographs, and information about a large number of organisms. If you need to see how the circulatory system works, or want a chart of the respiratory or digestive system, take a look here. Thanks to Mrs. Linda Millard for this generous gift to the Library, given in honor of Stephens Millard ’51.

Got questions? E-mail _librarians@severnschool.com.