6.1471, Disc: Self-censorship: Moderators' Response

Sat Oct 21 19:15:57 UTC 1995

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-1471. Sat Oct 21 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  253

Subject: 6.1471, Disc: Self-censorship:  Moderators' Response

Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>

Associate Editor:  Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
Assistant Editors: Ron Reck <rreck at emunix.emich.edu>
                   Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
                   Annemarie Valdez <avaldez at emunix.emich.edu>

Software development: John H. Remmers <remmers at emunix.emich.edu>

Editor for this issue: hdry at emunix.emich.edu

---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Sat, 21 Oct 1995 14:22:02 EDT
From:  hdry at ling.lsa.umich.edu ("Helen Dry")
Subject:  moderators' response on self-censorship

---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Sat, 21 Oct 1995 14:22:02 EDT
From:  hdry at ling.lsa.umich.edu ("Helen Dry")
Subject:  moderators' response on self-censorship

  Moderators' note:

  On Wed, Oct 11, Lynn Murphy wrote:

  >i contacted the moderators last year about the issue of unresearched
  >calls for references.  at their encouragement, i wrote a FAQ (which
  >i seem to no longer have), which i assumed was going to be sent in
  >response to reference questions.  i don't know if this proved to be
  >feasible or not (moderators?), but certainly the problem has not gone
  >away. . . .
  >the FAQ i wrote suggested that any request for references be as
  >specific as possible, explaining why you are looking for that
  >information.  it also suggested that the requester make clear  what
  >part of the literature or what bibliographies they've already
  >consulted.  adherence to these guidelines would ensure that
  >responders wouldn't be wasting their time in giving the requester
  >info that s/he doesn't need.

  >the FAQ also gave an annotated  bibliography of bibliographic
  >resources in linguistics (LLBA, ERIC, etc.), to encourage footwork at
  >the library.

  >so, there is (or was) a mechanism for encouraging library work prior
  >to linguist queries, but i don't know whether the FAQ is used.

  >perhaps the moderators can comment?

  Indeed, Lynn wrote us an excellent FAQ on this topic (appended below
  for your information); it's clear, helpful, and kind.  Our student editors
  are instructed to send this out to posters whose queries are rejected.
  To the best of our knowledge, this practice is consistently followed.

  But, in fact, LINGUIST returns very few queries--perhaps only 10 per
  year.  We would like to emphasize this fact, because we do agree with
  those of you who, in commenting on the self-censorship discussion, say
  that one purpose of the list is to help people gather information.
  Also, it is impossible for us to know what other informational
  resources are available to a given poster, so we don't want to
  arbitrarily deprive anyone of this one.

  The reason we do return some queries is simply that we want to keep
  the list focused on academic linguistics and useful as a _professional_
  resource.  On a list this size, we always have to be aware that
  one posting of a certain kind is likely to encourage 50 more.
  One 10 year-old asking if reindeers can talk may be charming; but 50
  such questions will detract from LINGUIST's ability to serve its
  primary audience.

  It seems to us that the best ways of dealing with this problem are
  those that have been suggested by subscribers in this discussion:
  1) self-censorship, where appropriate, 2) ignoring queries that
  you feel are time-wasting, or 3) responding but also nudging
  the poster toward independent research.  In other words, the most
  effective means of controlling this problem are really in the hands
  of subscribers.

  And, in fact, subscribers have been doing an excellent job.  When we
  reflect on the fact that there are now over 6800 individual subscribers,
  150 redistribution lists, and countless people who read LINGUIST via
  the Web, the number of problematic queries we receive seems very, very
  small indeed.  We at LINGUIST are grateful for the professionalism
  of our subscribers, and their consistent cooperation.

  --Helen and Anthony

	----------FAQ on references follows ---------------

            _______________________________________

Due to the increased burden on LINGUIST caused by queries regarding
references, it has become necessary to limit reference queries to
those which cannot  be  handled by an ordinary library search.
Some bibliographic sources for linguistics have been appended to this
message.  Others may be found by contacting a reference librarian.

If a thorough search of bibliographic sources has left you with
unsatisfactory results, please resubmit your query, noting:
(1) what specific research question you are seeking  to answer,
(2) what references you are already aware of, and
(3) what bibliographic sources you  have consulted.

Thank  you for your consideration and good luck in your research.

LINGUIST

********************************************************************

General Bibliographic Sources for Linguistics

NOTE:  Specific bibliographies are available for particular disciplines
in linguistics,  applications of linguistics, specific languages, and
some specific  formats (e.g., bibliographies of book reviews).   It
is not possible to list all such materials here.  Please consult
your library's catalogue or reference librarian.

BIBLIOGRAPHIE LINGUISTIQUUE / LINGUISTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
Published annually by Kluwer.

DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL
Available in print or CD-ROM.

ERIC DATABASE
Produced by ERIC Clearinghouse on Language and Linguistics.  Computer
database of articles on microfiche.  Applied linguistics focus.

LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR ABSTRACTS
Updated quarterly.

MLA INTERNATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY (VOL. 3 LINGUISTICS)
Produced by the Modern Languages Association.  Available in print or CD-ROM.

                         *************

Electronic Access to Bibliographies

The catalogs of many libraries around the world are accessible through
the Internet.  A list of these can be found with Gopher or Hytelnet.
Ask your systems person how you can access one of these search utilities.

	There is also a file called LOGIN.COM that will allow you to
access libraries by typing LIBS. This can be obtained from the following
FTP sites:

Host sunic.sunet.se    (192.36.148.18)
Last updated 23:08 14 Mar 1994

    Location: /antiques/sec1/scheme/microcode
      FILE    -rw-r--r--     465 bytes  01:00  6 Oct 1986  vmslogin.com

Host ftp.uwo.ca    (129.100.2.12)
Last updated 08:28 19 Mar 1994

    Location: /pub/unix/MFS/obsolete/vax-vms.shriek.support
      FILE    -rwxr-xr-x     300 bytes  23:00 31 Jul 1989  login.com

Host uceng.uc.edu    (129.137.189.1)
Last updated 19:46 14 Mar 1994

    Location: /pub/wuarchive/decus/idx93a-files
      FILE    -rw-r--r--    1318 bytes  23:00 22 Jul 1993  login.com

Host ftp.wustl.edu    (128.252.135.4)
Last updated 14:19  5 Feb 1994

    Location: /decus/idx93a-files
      FILE    -rw-r--r--    1318 bytes  02:53 23 Jul 1993  login.com

Host mvb.saic.com    (139.121.19.1)
Last updated 11:07 19 Mar 1994

    Location: /VAX92A.DIR;1/BULLETIN.DIR;1
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       3 bytes  05:57 15 Jun 1992  LOGIN.COM;1

    Location: /VAX92A.DIR;1/LOMASKY.DIR;1/LOGIN.DIR;1
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       1 bytes  11:27  8 Apr 1992  LOGIN.COM;1

Host utadnx.cc.utexas.edu    (128.241.0.251)
Last updated 21:55  3 Mar 1994

    Location: /
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       1 bytes  14:06 14 Mar 1991  LOGIN.COM;1

Host mvb.saic.com    (139.121.19.1)
Last updated 11:07 19 Mar 1994

    Location: /92AVAXLT.DIR;1
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       3 bytes  18:26 28 Apr 1987  LOGIN.COM;2

    Location: /92BVAXLT.DIR;1
      FILE    --w-r-x-w-       3 bytes  18:26 28 Apr 1987  LOGIN.COM;2

    Location: /93AVMSLT.DIR;1
      FILE    --w-r-x-w-       3 bytes  18:26 28 Apr 1987  LOGIN.COM;2

Host crvax.sri.com    (128.18.30.65)
Last updated 23:50 18 Mar 1994

    Location: /
      FILE    ----------       1 bytes  14:38 18 Feb 1994  LOGIN.COM;2

Host mvb.saic.com    (139.121.19.1)
Last updated 11:07 19 Mar 1994

    Location: /LT93A.DIR;1/NEWSRDR.DIR;1
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       3 bytes  12:58 25 Feb 1991  NEWSRDR_LOGIN.COM;2

    Location: /VAX92A.DIR;1/RPI.DIR;1/NEWSRDR.DIR;1
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       3 bytes  12:58 25 Feb 1991  NEWSRDR_LOGIN.COM;2

    Location: /VAX92A.DIR;1/MUNIC_S92.DIR;1/SMALL.DIR;1
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       5 bytes  09:33  8 Jul 1991  TWA_LOGIN.COM;2

    Location: /VAX92A.DIR;1/RPI.DIR;1/WATCHER.DIR;1
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       1 bytes  10:07  5 Jul 1990  DECW_STARTLOGIN.COM;
7

    Location: /VMS92B.DIR;1/BAISLEY.DIR;1/COM.DIR;1
      FILE    --w-r-x-w-      18 bytes  16:41  4 Dec 1992  SYLOGIN.COM;1

    Location: /VMS92B.DIR;1/CDDRIVER.DIR;1/VAX89B1.DIR;1/TEST.DIR;1
      FILE    --w-r-x-w-       2 bytes  09:58 31 Oct 1989  LOGIN.COM;4

    Location: /VMS93A.DIR;1/MADISON.DIR;1/NEWSRDR.DIR;1
      FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       3 bytes  12:58 25 Feb 1991  NEWSRDR_LOGIN.COM;1

    Location: /VMS93A.DIR;1/MADISON.DIR;1/WATCHER.DIR;1
     FILE    -rw-r-x-w-       1 bytes  10:07  5 Jul 1990  DECW_STARTLOGIN.COM;1

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LINGUIST List: Vol-6-1471.