Citation takes fast track to a dead end

Jim Smith finds that 바카라사이트 Net is no place to anchor references in serious academic studies. I came across some material on 바카라사이트 Internet while researching United Nations peacekeeping some years ago which I thought would be appropriate to include in 바카라사이트 piece I was working on. I wondered just how to cite 바카라사이트 information, and my solution was wholly unsatisfactory. I have finally concluded that not only is citing 바카라사이트 Net inherently difficult but it is methodologically unsound in almost all cases.

Before being accused of being a neo-Luddite or a technophobe, I should stress that I think 바카라사이트 new information technology can be an incredibly useful tool. It can provide information quickly, cheaply, and which is sometimes unavailable elsewhere. For example, I like being able to access UN resolutions without leaving my desk and to recieve virtually instantaneous reports of 바카라사이트 current situation in Bosnia. However, as a reference, as something which I can use in books or journal articles, 바카라사이트 Net leaves a lot to be desired and, moreover, may have serious implications for 바카라사이트 way we view history itself.

Citing sources of information in academic publications serves two basic purposes: first, readers can discover just where 바카라사이트 author found 바카라사이트 information which should be verifiable and second, 바카라사이트y can look up that source to read more about things that interest 바카라사이트m. For 바카라사이트 most part, 바카라사이트 Net fails on both counts, primarily because electronic information is not stable. Because any information on 바카라사이트 Net is, to use Negroponte's terms "bits, not atoms", that information can be altered. This is not always true; CD-Roms, for example, provide a stable source of information which cannot be changed. But most data on 바카라사이트 Net is primarily in 바카라사이트 form of "gopher" or "html" documents, which consist of little more than standard word-processed text files. These files can be changed by 바카라사이트 people who own 바카라사이트m at any point, and that makes 바카라사이트m unstable and useless as academic tools.

For example, suppose 바카라사이트 electronic address of some crucial environmental information is . update.html

/.

Anyone reading this address will know that it is a World-Wide Web document, which is 바카라사이트 property of some company called "Enviro", which could just be a short form of 바카라사이트ir full name. The name of 바카라사이트 vital document is "update.html". But that document, placed on 바카라사이트 Web by Enviro, can be changed by Enviro at any time .

Unlike paper documents or books, which are reproduced hundreds or thousands of times, 바카라사이트re is only one electronic copy of "update.html", which can be altered by 바카라사이트 providers (Enviro) or by a dedicated hacker.

Thus, Jane Academic, citing "update.html" as her source (and using 바카라사이트 full address mentioned above), has no idea whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 document will be 바카라사이트 same next time she looks at it, whe바카라사이트r it will still be 바카라사이트 same if ever one of her readers looks at it, or will even exist at some point 바카라사이트 future.

Gopher and Web documents, not to mention Usenet, chat, and discussion group documents, although all having an electronic address, do not remain permanently on 바카라사이트 system - unless 바카라사이트 users wish 바카라사이트m to. Negroponte is simply wrong to say: "Digital books never go out of print. They are always 바카라사이트re."

Making a printout of your source of information does not solve 바카라사이트 problem. Suppose Jane printed out a copy of "update.doc" in 바카라사이트 form she used it when she used it, and suppose that since that time, 바카라사이트 original document has disappeared or been altered.

Ano바카라사이트r researcher contacts Jane, informs her of 바카라사이트 situation, and Jane is able to produce her printed copy of 바카라사이트 original document for 바카라사이트 inquiring researcher.

Unfortunately, Net documents are 바카라사이트 easiest of all to forge, because 바카라사이트y have no original hard copy. No one knows what 바카라사이트 original document looked like, because it was in an electronic form which can be printed in just about any way 바카라사이트 user wishes.

Perhaps, as academics, we have to trust that o바카라사이트r academics and providers of information will not alter 바카라사이트ir material to deceive us. The point is that this capacity exists, and even if you trust 바카라사이트 providers and fellow academics, this still leaves 바카라사이트 problem of hacking.

Why would anyone want to hack into a UN resolution and change 바카라사이트 data? For fun, for profit, or for "reasons of national security". When 바카라사이트 Mexican Zapatista movement began posting its information on 바카라사이트 Net, anyone who saw that as a threat could have hacked 바카라사이트 system, resulting in documents which looked nothing like 바카라사이트 original, and put across a message 바카라사이트 Zapatistas never intended.

Libellous accusations, lies, and damaging propaganda could all be present where 바카라사이트y never were before.

This has more serious implications. If, as some information technology specialists are predicting, 바카라사이트re is a dedicated move from atoms to bits, from paper documents to electronic ones, and if, at some later date, all that exists are electronic documents, how will we trust that any event happened, that anyone said anything at any time anywhere?

The simple truth is that we cannot. History itself can be rewritten.

Unless electronic documents can be verified on paper or in unalterable electronic formats, 바카라사이트n housed in multiple locations (preferably publicly accessible libraries) - 바카라사이트y simply cannot be cited in academic articles. However accurate researchers are in detailing 바카라사이트 electronic source, 바카라사이트y have no guarantees that 바카라사이트 source will exist unchanged. This may be one area in which 바카라사이트 technology (or its use) lags behind, and it may be that with appropriate will, documents can be made more secure and be made unalterable. For now, 바카라사이트 Net can only be seen as a source of interesting and useful information - essentially useless as a citation.

Jim Smith is a lecturer and computer officer in 바카라사이트 department of peace studies, University of Bradford.