Here is my valued contribution ?

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smcarberry
Posts: 1281
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:31 pm
Location: USA

Here is my valued contribution ?

Post by smcarberry » Fri Jun 17, 2016 3:17 pm

I am happy to report that additional details (shown below) are available for a Clare man listed without much description in Ger Browne's database of Clare people who served in WWI, donated to the Clare County Library and viewable at: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... _war_2.pdf

Mr. Browne stated his hope that people would come forward with more details and more individuals to be included. When the Shannon data is added, I hope to see that credit is expanded to include both myself and John Shannon's relative who provided the facts. Providing such credit not only encourages contributions, but it is also required by ethics and the law in civilized countries. In academic circles (including the Clare County Library), bypassing the actual origin of data and publishing without attribution is widely known as plagiarism, which lowers the merit of the work and the writer's reputation as well as that of the publisher.

Why I am making this statement so publicly ? My contributions to the database have already gone without credit, instead attributed to someone else. Ger Browne's credit page appears below. Each listing also has a reference to its source. My contributions appear at the end of this posting. The closest Mr. Browne came to credit for my first contributions was to show a fictional title “Massachusetts and the Great War” for which no description is given anywhere. That source actually is a book for which I provided complete bibliographic details and an online link to its full contents. That very contribution was sought from me by Keir McNamara, credited with my donated material. When Keir emailed me in January, 2014, he simply stated that he was trying to find Clare people who had served in WWI – there was no mention of a database ready for publication or Ger Browne or Peador McNamara, the other person credited with other listings which I provided in April 2014. Nothing had been said about anyone else getting credit for it. The published listings consist of the screenshots I made and sent to Keir. I also provided ample suggestions on where Keir might find more in military service, which he acknowledged in the below email, after which I sent him yet another listing, this time attributed to another person when the actual source is the Kerry library as I indicated to Keir.

I am at a loss to understand why my time, resourcefulness, and generosity are being buried like this.
I expect corrections to be made. Characterizing a publication as entertaining and/or exhausting to pro-duce is no excuse. In this same period of time, I was compiling a database of Clare men in the U.S. Civil War and going the extra mile to ensure proper credit for my sources. It is apparent that the Clare library staff cannot assume that its contributors know or are compliant with the involved standards. Other such sites have contributors acknowledge that they have a responsibility and duty to provide proper attribution and avoid violation of copyright. I want to see more contributions and I want to continue to benefit from the broader knowledge that donated databases provide, but not at the expense of decency and fair play. For those who wish to stay on the right side of this issue, here are good, brief explanations of the underlying principles:

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/plagiarism.html
http://www.legalgenealogist.com/2015/02 ... copyright/

Is this an isolated incident ? No, I have twice before had to disassociate myself from a Clare organization who went all-out for contributions of time and effort, and then, with that in hand, they went silent and left thanks and credit go unsaid while yet continuing on their agenda to make public what they felt was more important. Taking care of your volunteers has the same priority as getting on to the next project. American volunteers are just as valuable as Clare residents. If I were there in person, I would indeed give you who do that a withering stare. You know who you are – consider it done.
Sharon Carberry
USA


Sent to Keir in April 2014, collected by me same month for his project:

William Considine, caution sent to research true name, proper credit given to its source, Kerry Library website; Browne's database's sole attribution is D. Murrihy

Patrick J. McInerney, my newspaper screenshot used; Browne's database show no attribution at all

John Murphy, my newspaper screenshot used, attributed to P. McNamara

Cornelius J. O'Brien, my newspaper screenshot used; attributed to Keir McNamara

Thomas Shannon, my newspaper screenshot used; attributed to P. McNamara


Sent to Keir in Jan 2014, collected by me June 2013 prior to being contacted for the project:
Source: Report of the Commission on Massachusetts' Part in the World War
THE GOLD STAR RECORD OF MASSACHUSETTS, Vol. II
Eben Putnam, ed. (Boston, 1929)
http://www.archive.org/details/reportofcommissi002comm
Sole source cited in the Clare database: “Massachusetts and the Great War”

Thomas Andrew Cunningham [exact text used in Browne's database, no additional data appearing]
John Lillis [exact text used in Browne's database, no additional data appearing]
Austin Francis O'Hare [exact text used in Browne's database, no additional data appearing]
Shannon, John WWI sailor bur'd at sea.jpg
Shannon, John WWI sailor bur'd at sea.jpg (102.73 KiB) Viewed 9243 times
Browne's acknowledgements, WWI database.jpg
Browne's acknowledgements, WWI database.jpg (102.02 KiB) Viewed 9243 times
Considine, Wm sent Apr 2014.jpg
Considine, Wm sent Apr 2014.jpg (81.43 KiB) Viewed 9243 times

Paddy Casey
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Re: Here is my valued contribution ?

Post by Paddy Casey » Sat Jun 18, 2016 5:45 am

Sharon,

Did you take this up with the Clare Library and the named contributors before posting this ? If so, what were their positions ?

Paddy

smcarberry
Posts: 1281
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:31 pm
Location: USA

Re: Here is my valued contribution ?

Post by smcarberry » Sat Jun 18, 2016 9:01 am

Paddy,

Sorry to see you question my approach on this. I have no intention of spending time in a diplomatic process. As I indicated, this is not the first time this has happened in this setting. People need to know that they either fly right or risk exposure.

The involved standards of conduct are set and well defined by organizations that have put in the time to consider all sides and interests. There are people who feel that all knowledge should be shared and widely distributed. Taking time to make proper attributions does not make a significant impact on that, but does free up people with knowledge to respond to inquiries without prior negotiations. The alternative is to limit distribution of researched knowledge to formal settings and thus eliminate informal discussions. The genealogy community has recently faced this dilemma with attendees using lecturers' material from conferences as though it is common knowledge. In my case, the incursion was aggravated by the Browne database using my imaging of a newspaper article, which is yet another layer of misappropriation. When one catches a thief, there is no obligation to go to his parents and start a discussion. The rightful owner is entitled to say "stop that thief" in public and cause the fellow to enter the justice system immediately. That is a stark example, but I apparently have to put this kind of activity into its proper category. This is wrongful action contrary to the protected interests of a specific person. There is no gray area to hash out in private.

Note that my mentioning the Clare County Library is only due to the context here, that the database reached the status of being published because the Library receives donated databases and places those online. I am not reflecting on the Library's actions in any way. I am raising the alert here, so that organizations know that their venues are being used by people not adhering to publishing standards.

I of course prefer a more gentile approach to the whole subject, but that would not assist a process of change that needs to occur.

Sharon Carberry

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