I recently overheard some discussion among civil war researchers who present their work in public through speaking and writing on the web. They voice concern regarding “lifting” of their work by readers and attendees. Some cite examples of their work being presented by others in public and print as their own – without attribution. I’ve written before that it’s a risk we all take, and should even expect it to happen. But I have to admit to being a little concerned in this regard about my upcoming talk – assuming anyone else would consider my notion more than harebrained.
Of course the whole idea of Bull Runnings is sharing things. Recently someone mentioned to me that I have all these great letters that no one else has, to which I replied “Well, really, they all have them too.” But now we’re talking ideas and interpretation, not just photos and documents. It feels different.
What are your thoughts? Any examples of which you can think? Has it happened to you? How has it affected your sharing? Here’s your chance to vent…
Harry Smeltzer
Bull Runnings 
I quit worrying about this a long time ago. Frequently when my ideas are stolen the implementation of that stolen idea is so poorly done that I just laugh atit.
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And then…there’s the distortion of sources to cherry pick the assumptions that a speaker/author chooses to make. Omissions of facts contrary to the speaker/authors theories are also “convenient” for some folks. That’s even more difficult to deal with as few of us actually check sources. Being the trusting folks we are we assume the speaker/author is honest and endeavoring to tell the truth…sadly, that isn’t always the case.
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