“Cite everything” – Professor McClurken, Spring 2019
Today, we spent our time discussing all of the many reasons that citations are important. While there are many different styles to choose from, it was interesting to hear all of the ways that Chicago style is tailored to historians and their needs whilst researching. As a non-major it was neat comparing our different citation styles and their advantages.
Our readings highlighted the ways in which people are gravitating more towards author-date style, rather than footnotes. After our discussion today, that makes me sad. I have a greater appreciation for footnotes now than I did previously. As someone who spends the majority of their major discussing rhetoric, it was really neat learning about the ways in which citations can have a rhetorical function!
McIntyre’s reading highlighted the willful ignorance that we as readers and consumers have all to frequently fallen victim to. While I am sometimes not the most diligent at staying up to date on the news, I do take time to make sure that the things I am reading are credible.
While they can definitely be a pain, I do feel a greater appreciation for citations (including Chicago style) than I did previously.
Karcher, Sebastian, and Philipp Zumstein. “Citation Styles: History, Practice, and Future.” Authorea. October 04, 2018. https://www.authorea.com/users/102264/articles/124920-citation-styles-history-practice-and-future/_show_article
Chapter 1 of McIntyre, Lee C., and McIntyre, Lee C. Respecting Truth : Willful Ignorance in the Internet Age. 2015. https://doi-org.umw.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9781315713168
From a history major’s perspective, reading about other citation disciplines was refreshing. I do not remember the last time I cited any source not in Chicago Manual Style. However, I can say after the discussion from today and the reading, the use of different citation styles are needed for different fields of study. APA is not all that bad after all! All forms of citation have the same ingredients but different formats. I also agree the decrease in footnotes is disheartening. Footnotes are a clean and clear way to credit a work within the same page of text. Nevertheless, the main point taken from today was citing as a whole is instrumental in academic writing and should be emphasized.
I am often surprised at how much difficulty friends of mine (who are not history majors) have with citing material and knowing which types of things need to be cited. As a history major, I have become well-acquainted with providing detailed citations on all kinds of assignments and sometimes assume that everyone must be required to do the same thing but apparently not.