I dont know if we have to work with Turn-it-in per se. Given that most copy-paste is from
digital sources, we could start with a program/tool to search the web, which could lessen
the burden on editors significantly by itself. (Speaking as a writing teacher, I can tell
you this is how I find proof of the majority of plagiarism instances... people are often
not-too-smart when they are cheating).
If this works, I bet we could then work with some of the databases to allow the access
needed to check, as it would require only excepts from the text, not the entire text...
enough to justify a revert.
Granted this would not catch everything (no system does) but it would be a very good step
in the right direction.
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 10:15:44 +0200
From: rupert.thurner(a)gmail.com
To: wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Catching copy and pasting early
hi james, this sounds interesting. the only obstacle i see is that neither
the service nor the software nor the database are open. by using turnitin
we would give up on the principle of opening contents, at least in this
area. this might be perceived bad for opening content, editor retention,
and gaining new editors.
from a turnitin standpoint this might be marketing until they are well
known. as soon their goals are reached there is danger this will be
discontinued or the terms changed to be not acceptable any more.
technical and license obstacles do exist. to properly check wikipedia
editors would need access to restricted content. either content is copied
somewhere in the open, permission granted for all, or in the worst case, a
restricted number of editors.
not to forget is potential link spam. turnitin would put links to a site
not in control of the movement all over the place. they could without
problems put other content behind the links at any time.
but, i do think one could find a less risky and more open way to do check
for plagiarism. one might find better ways to access wikipedia dumps,
better access to recent changes, permission to automatically report back
issues, nitification of contributors and admins. all in a kind of
standardized way (i.e. well defined interface), and most important, usable
by everybody, for free.
rupert
Am 21.07.2014 04:05 schrieb "Leigh Thelmadatter"
<osamadre(a)hotmail.com>om>:
This is one of the best ideas Ive read on here!
Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 20:00:28 -0600
From: jmh649(a)gmail.com
To: wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org; eloquence(a)gmail.com;
fschulenburg(a)wikimedia.org; ladsgroup(a)gmail.com; jorlowitz(a)gmail.com;
madman.enwiki(a)gmail.com; west.andrew.g(a)gmail.com
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Catching copy and pasting
early
Come across another few thousand edits of copy and paste violations again
today. These have occurred over more than a year. It is wearing me out.
Really what is the point on collaborating on Wikipedia if it is simply a
copyright violation. We need a solution and one has been proposed here a
couple of years ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Turnitin
We now need programmers to carry it out. The Wiki Education Foundation
has
expressed interest. We will need support from the
foundation as this
software will likely need to mesh closely with edits as they come in. I
am
willing to offer $5,000 dollars Canadian (almost
the same as American)
for
a working solution that tags potential copyright
issues in near real time
with a greater than 90% accuracy. It is to function on at least all
medical
and pharmacology articles but I would not
complain if it worked on all of
Wikipedia. The WMF is free to apply.
--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
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