"If I have seen farther than others it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants" - Sir Isaac Newton
How many of your posts are completely original???
I would wager that up to ~90% of blog posts are inspired by content elsewhere on the web. Not necessarily from other posts (though a great percentage must be). Why wouldn't we want to properly acknowledge those that helped us with our ideas?
Cite your sources!
If you're a good writer, you may be able to condense a 20-page whitepaper into a single post, which will accomplish 2 things:
1. Give me the lowdown on the concept
2. Enable me to consider you an authority (I'll subscribe!)
There's a 3rd benefit, which is the most important, and isn't possible if you don't cite your sources:
3. Use the momentum you've given me with your post to delve deeper into the subject and potentially extend the knowledge.
Knowledge is growing exponentially...
There must be a huge overlap. How many times have you seen the next big thing and think... “I had that idea a few years ago, if only I'd etc etc...”
It happens to me all the time.
This occurrence is an example of knowledge overlap. There are people re-inventing the wheel all over the place. Innovation is vital in keeping the knowledge networks growing at this rate, but if you're standing on the shoulders of giants, be sure to drop them a hyperlink so your readers can continue beyond your post.
Building a Knowledge Hierarchy
A good number of the feeds I check daily are people I know about and respect (from many local .Net people to Scoble, Rubel, Andy & Dave, etc).
I keep an eye on their posts for any of a few reasons:
1. They're authorative on a topic I have interest in
2. I know them personally and want to keep up with them
And the most intriguing,
3. I want to know what makes them tick. What got you to where you are, what inspires your posts, what is it that I could read to learn more about the topics you're posting on???
As knowledge grows, it gets refined, it evolves, it gets set against various contexts and industries... There can't be a master source for this information; there is no 10,000 page document that explains everything about the topic you're researching (let's hope not anyway).
It all has to originate from somewhere obviously, but in order for it to be accessible to you, it needs to be easy to find and to read. If there are a dozen potential solutions to the problem I'm googling, I don't want to have to pick through a dozen whitepapers to find it. I want concise information from people that have used it. I want stories!
If I like your story, if the solution seems to have worked for you, and you're in my field, I'm doing 2 things:
1. Subscribing to your feed(s), and
2. Digging into the details for the solution, along with any references you cited in your posts.
Throughout the cycle of implementing the solution, I may post about the issues I've come across...
...and I will reference the authorities that helped me.
In effect, I'm extending the knowledge, and leaving the hierarchy intact...
...for the next guy...
...who will probably be me. :)
I find that it's easier to write about what I learn and cite my sources if I recognize that the next guy reading it will probably be me, someday down the road.
... and maybe, though I'd never count on it, there's that sliver of a chance that somebody else someday trips across my story and learns something from it, digs through the knowledge, and becomes the next big authority...
Print | posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2005 12:41 AM