On 3/27/07, Denny Colt wikidenny@gmail.com wrote:
On 3/27/07, John Lee johnleemk@gmail.com wrote:
...
Actually the three examples preceding the blog example would probably
not
be considered reliable sources either, as they are self-published.
Obviously,
however, this is ludicrous for, say, people like Jakob Nielsen. If their books are citable, why shouldn't their self-published works (especially
on
the same topics) be citable as well?
Johnleemk
Huh? If the book is published normally, and as a *book* is a fine source, but then the author turns around and just freely releases the SAME book online or via a newspaper or Readers Digest or whatever, why would the SAME material not be a bad source? It's the same material by the same person.
Ah, I was thinking of the typical e-book, i.e. something someone typed up in MS Word, converted into PDF format, and then put up on his site. (I've written an ebook myself, but I wouldn't dream of using it as a source for any article...) If what you had in mind is similar to what Philip Greenspun has done (he republishes his books on his website after they hit the bookstores), then there shouldn't be an issue.
The important question is whether the material is self-published, because if it is not subject to editorial vetting, it's no good as a secondary source - and as a tertiary source, WP is not in the business of publishing material from primary sources, unless these sources have been utilised by secondary sources.
Johnleemk