Paper Citation

[galileo]

I am in university in my first year of a Classical Studies program

 

I have been using this site a great deal for solid summaries of events that I am required to write about.

 

I was just wondering whether this site is 'credible' enough to be cited for a university paper and if so how should it be cited due to the lack of specific authorship beyond 'UNRV Team'?

[Ursus]

While some people on this site are very well-read, I don't think anyone here (with the exception of the visiting Oxford Professor) have academic credentials.

 

You probably shouldn't be using this site to reference papers. Though you can use it to get an idea. For instance, PP's ongoing summary of Roman history is a brilliant crash course to anyone new to the subject.

[Viggen]

while Chris Heaton (primuspilus) has the ultimate say what you can or can not do with our content regarding citing it at your university papers, the bibliography page should give you an idea where and how this articles came about...

http://www.unrv.com/bibliography.php

 

regards

viggen

[galileo]

ok - just checking, not the forums, but the actual site material itself is just written by enthusiasts not necessarily formally educated individuals?

 

just checked out the Bibliography page - that answers most of what I was looking for - I don't think my prof would object to me citing the information as long as I have sufficient sources outside of this site.

Edited November 24, 2005 by galileo

[Primus Pilus]

I will add that the bulk of the material is written with a heavy emphasis on the ancient source material. Obviously other sources are used and my own opinion is interjected throughout, but in no instance do I stray wildly from the general consensus view on most issues.

[sullafelix]

I can give you a reasonably definitive answer on this one. I am a university lecturer in this subject, albeit a very junior one at the moment, without a PhD to my name as yet (witness my sunken cheeks, the dark circles under my eyes and my extreme poverty). However, as I tell my students time and time again. Don't reference web sites unless you have good reason to believe they are academically credible.

 

There is stuff out there that is, look for eductional institution urls and credible online translation sites like the excellent perseus tufts digital library.

 

For school work (I also teach school!) it is more acceptable, but I still would try to avoid it where possible.

 

That said although I wouldn't actually reference this site (as it does not have pretensions to be academically accurate with all the grief that entails) it is quite useful and I get quite a lot of good little pointers from it. A good question to ask all the forum users is where they got their information form on any subject, Often we can give you chapter and verse on the source material. Of course most importantly it is rather a nice forum with a lot of very helpful and knowledgable enthusiasts of all levels (OK its late can anyone spell knowledgable for me?)

Edited November 27, 2005 by sullafelix

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

*Knowledgeable*

What do you mean by "(as it does not have pretensions to be academically accurate with all the grief that entails) "

Oh by the way, where do you teach SullaFelix?

Edited November 27, 2005 by FLavius Valerius Constantinus

[sullafelix]

*Knowlegeable*

What do you mean by "(as it does not have pretensions to be academically accurate with all the grief that entails) "

Oh by the way, where do you teach SullaFelix?

 

Well I'd rather not say where I teach because that way I can say what I like, although this of course means you can choose to believe me or not (chuckle).

 

By the way I mean by all the grief, all the hassle. The actual quest to be truly accurate and not commit errors of fact is a bit of a sod in all honesty. I in no way mean to denegrate the knowledge of other forum users, many of whom put my small amount of knowledge to shame. What I mean is that to be properly academically credible all the opinion on this site would have to be of publishable standard that's all.

 

I can give you a clue as to where I teach though, look at my user name. I work in the UK in the South East at the same university I graduated from and my love of this character comes from the inspirational teaching of my tutor, who is considered something of an expert on the man. That's as much as I am going to give you though, and if you work it out don't post it please.

[Pantagathus]

There is stuff out there that is, look for eductional institution urls and credible online translation sites like the excellent perseus tufts digital library.

 

I also *highly* recommend Perseus Tufts Digital Libray. The inclusion of William Smith's Dictionaries of Aniquities (Biography-Mythology & Geography) from 1854 is absolutely priceless. They are the most extensively researched reference materials out there (at least that I've found) and they will lead you to any amount of sources you can imagine.

 

If you wanted your own copies you are talking ~$500 a pop and on Perseus Tufts it's there for free and you don't have to spend hours in a library looking through them.

 

Though I will say that their hyperlinks from their search engine are broken right now...

[Primus Pilus]

I would agree with the general consensus of using a forum discussion to cite for a paper, however I stand by my work in the Roman History of this site, which I believe was the direction of the original post?