Collaboration and Technical Writing:
Ethics, Essays and Education
TechMath Summer Institute
15 June 2009
Claudia L. Jolls
Department of Biology
East Carolina University
"The primary objective of copyright
is not to reward the labor of
authors...but encourage others to
build freely upon the ideas and
information conveyed by a work."
Sandra Day O’Connor
Supreme Court Justice
NC Standard Course of Study
The Computer/Technology Skills Standard Course of Study
Strand: Societal and Ethical Issues
Competency Goal 1: The learner will understand important issues
of a technology-based society and will exhibit ethical behavior in
the use of computer and other technologies.
Objectives for ALL content areas:
1.01: Practice safe, responsible, and ethical behavior in using
technology resources and information.
1.02: Identify issues surrounding complex technology
environments
Competency Goal 3: The learner will use a variety of technologies
to access, analyze, interpret, synthesize, apply, and communicate
information.
305 Math, 306 Science: Adhere to Fair Use and Multimedia
Copyright Guidelines, citing sources of copyrighted materials
in papers, projects, and multimedia presentations.
Copyright was created to benefit
society at large, not commercial
interests.
Educators have access to
information as “fair use”,
something that benefits society
at large.
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These days, almost all things are copyrighted
the moment they are written, and no
copyright notice is required.
Copyright is still violated whether you charged
money or not.
Postings to the net are not granted to the
public domain. Do no further copying except
perhaps what the poster might have expected
“in the ordinary flow of the net.”
Fair use is a complex doctrine meant to allow
certain valuable social purposes. Why could
we not have rewritten it in your own words?
Copyright is not lost because you do not
defend it.
Copyright law is mostly civil law where the
special rights of criminal defendants you hear
so much about don't apply. New laws are
moving copyright violation into the criminal
realm.
It is not that hard to ask permission.
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
NC Department of Public Instruction
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/copyright1.html
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Educators or students need not write for
permission if their presentation falls within the
specific multimedia fair use guidelines;
however,
"educators and students are advised to note
that if there is a possibility that their own
educational multimedia project incorporating
copyrighted works under fair use could later
result in broader dissemination, whether or not
as commercial product, it is strongly
recommended that they take steps to obtain
permissions during the development process
for all copyrighted portions rather than waiting
until after completion of the project.”
NCDPI Fair Use
Text
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Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or 1000
words, whichever is less
Numerical Data Sets
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Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cell entries,
whichever is less, from a copyrighted database
or data table
A field entry is defined as a specific item of
information (e.g. name, Social Security
number) in a record of a database file.
A cell entry is defined as the intersection where
a row and a column meet on a spreadsheet
NCDPI Fair Use
Illustrations
 A photograph or illustration may be
used in its entirety
 No more than 5 images of an
artist's or photographer's work
 When using a collection, no more
than 10% or no more than 15
images,
NCDPI Fair Use
Internet
 Internet resources often combine both
copyrighted and public domain sites;
therefore, care should be used in
downloading any sites for use in
multimedia presentations.
 Until further clarification, educators and
students are advised to write for
permission to use Internet resources
and to be mindful of the copyright
ramifications of including embedded
additional links to that particular site.
NCDPI Fair Use
Text
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Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or
1000 words, whichever is less
Poems
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Entire poem if less than 250 words
250 words or less if longer poem
No more than 5 poems (or excerpts) of
different poets, from an anthology
Only 3 poems (or excerpts) per poet
NCDPI Fair Use
Copying and Distribution Limitations
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Do not post multimedia projects claiming fair
use exemption on an unsecured web site.
No more than 2 copies of the original
production may be made.
Only 1 may be placed on reserve for others to
use for instructional purposes.
An additional copy may be made for
preservation purposes, but may be used or
copied only to replace a use copy that has been
lost, damaged, or stolen.
If more than one person has created the
multimedia presentation, each principal creator
may retain only one copy.
To use copyrighted materials
lawfully, you must obtain
permission from the applicable
copyright holders or a copyright
licensing agent.
"It is often easier to ask for
forgiveness than to ask for
permission ."
Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992)
American computer programmer
(COBOL)
" If it's a good idea, go ahead
and do it. It's much easier to
apologize than it is to get
permission."
Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992)
American computer programmer
(COBOL)
" Better to ask permission
first than beg for forgiveness
later.”
Claudia L. Jolls (1953-????)
American plant ecologist and
privateer of good ideas
Part II: The Internet
From www.techlearning.com
1. A high school science class studying ocean ecosystems must
gather material for multimedia projects. The teacher
downloads pictures and information on marine life from
various commercial and noncommercial sites to store in a
folder for students to access. This is fair use.
True. The Web may be mined for resources.
Download away (of course, don't hack into
subscription sites)! But remember: you can't
put these projects back up on the Web without
permission from the copyright holders.
2. A high school designs a password-protected Web site for
families and faculty only. It's OK for teachers to post student
work there, even when it uses copyright material without
permission.
True. If the site really is protected, then this is
considered OK. The school should monitor its
Web hits, though, and make sure the outside
world isn't sneaking in.
3. A math student film buff downloads a new release from a
Taiwanese Web site to use for a project. As long as the student
gives credit to the sites from which he's downloaded material,
this is covered under fair use.
False. Educators may use "legitimately
acquired" material without asking permission,
but many file-sharing sites are suspect in this
area. Use common sense to determine if those
peer-to-peer resources are legitimate or pirated.
(You can also check copyright ownership at
www.loc.gov or www.mpa.org)
4. A technology coordinator downloads audio clips from
MP3.com to integrate into a curriculum project. This is fair
use.
True. MP3.com pays for its archives, so the
material there is legitimately acquired. Be wary
of some of the other peer-to-peer sites, however
(see #8).
5. A teacher gets clip art and music from popular file-sharing
sites, then creates a lesson plan and posts it on the school Web
site to share with other teachers. This is permissible.
False. Legitimately acquired material can be
used in classrooms. However, under the current
law, no teacher can redistribute such material
over the Net or any other medium. You can use
it, but you can't spread it around.
Helpful Links
Useful Links about Copyright from Claudia's Presentation:
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/195_copr.html
http://www.copyright.gov/
Check for Copyright Ownership:
www.mpa.org
NCDPI Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines:
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/copyright1.html
A Crash Course in Copyright and Fair Use:
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm
A Copyright Tutorial Test:
http://www.lib.utsystem.edu/copyright/test.htmlhttp://www.techlearning.c
om/techlearning/pdf/db_area/archives/TL/2002/10/copyright_chart.pdf
NCSU TEACH Act Toolkit
http://www.provost.ncsu.edu/copyright/toolkit/
Accusations of Misuse of Original Art Work by "The World is Flat" Thomas L.
Friedman
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/10/17/83
58061/index.htm
Attribution and Acknowledgment
(The University of Texas)
Educators, scholars, and students should credit the
sources and display the copyright notice(s) with any
copyright ownership information shown in the
original source, for all images digitized by
educators, scholars, and students, including those
digitized under fair use. Crediting the source means
adequately identifying the source of the work,
giving a full bibliographic description where
available (including the creator/author, title,
publisher, and place and date of publication) or
citing the electronic address if the work is from a
network source.
Technical Writing
TechMath Summer Institute
15 July 2009
Claudia L. Jolls
Department of Biology
East Carolina University
"Write with precision, clarity
and economy. Every sentence
should convey the exact truth
as simply as possible.“
Instructions to Authors
Ecology 1964
Problems and Pitfalls
Ambrose, III, H. W. A., K. P. Ambrose, D. J. Emlen and
K. L. Bright. 2007. A Handbook of Biological
Investigation. 7th ed. Hunter Textbooks, WinstonSalem, NC. 194 pp.
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Citing other work
Wordy, awkward constructions
Avoid incomplete sentences
Beware of ambiguous antecedents.
– “Students should be able to solve
the equations for the lines in
parallel.”
“Sez who?”
• Support statements using
references to other published
literature as documented
evidence.
• Give credit where credit is
due.
FORMAT FOR CITING REFERENCES
IN THE TEXT
You must cite another researcher whenever you
refer to his or her results, conclusions, or
methods in your paper. The reference in the
text is made only to the author's name and
date of publication.
Enzymes are inhibited by cyanide (Grubb 1977).
Because enzymes are inhibited by cyanide (Grubb 1977), I
expect to find...
Grubb (1977) found that cyanide inhibits enzymes.
Because Grubb (1977) found that cyanide inhibits enzymes....
As early as 1977, Grubb observed the inhibitory effect of
cyanide on enzyme action.
Incorrect:
Grubb found that cyanide inhibits enzyme action (1977).
Citations are listed
in chronological order.
Cyanide has been found to inhibit enzyme action
(Grubb 1977, Smith 1980, Taylor 1983).
More than three authors
et al. (from "et alii," Latin for "and others")
after the first author's name:
Cyanide has been found to inhibit enzyme action
(Jones et al. 1985).
Problems and Pitfalls
• wordy, awkward constructions
– Use active voice.
• Use verbs instead of abstract nouns.
– Amputate dangling participles.
• “Students will measure the plant
stem using the protractor.”
• Beware of adjectives ending in “ing” or sometimes “-ed”
Problems and Pitfalls
“Onion bulbs were partially
submerged in water with the root
end just below the surface. Three
toothpicks were affixed to the onions
to hold them in place. These were
grown for three days.”
IF you’ve got a thought that’s happy,
Boil it down.
Make it short, and crisp, and snappy--Boil it down.
When our rain its coin has minted,
Down the page your pen has sprinted,
If you want your effort printed,
Boil it down.
--Anonymous
(Professor Les Ismore)
Ambrose, III, H. W. A., K. P. Ambrose, D. J. Emlen and
K. L. Bright. 2007. A Handbook of Biological
Investigation. 7th ed. Hunter Textbooks, WinstonSalem, NC. 194 pp.
Jolls’ Top Ten
Technical Writing Pet Peeves
10. Avoid “get”; consider “obtain” instead.
9. The metric system is used in the sciences (Systèm
Internationale).
8. Spell out numbers less than or equal to ten unless
they begin a sentence or are associated with units,
i.e. “Five birds were observed...” and “We
observed five birds and 10 squirrels...” yet “Plants
weighed 5 g.”
Jolls’ Top Ten
Technical Writing Pet Peeves
7. Do comparatives have a reference, i.e., smaller
than, more frequent than… “...were different..” to
which your reader replied, “Different from each
other? From a standard?”
6. Have you avoided use of ambiguous terms like “it”,
“they”, “different”?
Jolls’ Top Ten
5. The word “data” is plural, i.e. “Data are
summarized in Table 1...”. A singular form of
the word would be “datum”, “data point” or
“data set”, i.e. “The data set is
summarized...” or “The data are summarized…”
4. Complex sentences are difficult to interpret;
one long sentence should be replaced with
several shorter ones. Less is more.
3. Avoid contractions; use “do not” rather than
“don’t.”
2. “there” is not the same as “their”
Jolls’ Top Ten
Technical Writing Pet Peeves
1. “effect” is not the same as “affect”
1. “its” is not the same as “it’s”
1. Do as I do, not as I say: PROOF, PROOF,
PROOF and use models.
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Hudnutt-Sinicrope TechMath Module Template
“There is no such thing as
good writing, only good
re-writing.”
Justice Brandeis?
T. S. Elliot?
E. Hemingway?
Isaac Bashevis Singer?
A Wise Professor?
An Old Adage?
Author Unknown
“There is nothing tougher
to edit than white space.”
Claudia L. Jolls
Blocked Writer
How long will it take?
Am I done yet?
Writing Follows The Gas Laws
Boyle’s Law
Describe the inversely proportional
relationship between the absolute
pressure and volume of a gas (under
constant temperature in a close
system)
Press Release 07-080
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