From: Stein A. Stromme (stromme@mi.uib.no)
Date: Fri Jun 13 2003 - 02:51:04 EDT
| [stuff snipped by moderator because there is no need to quote all
| previous posts]
Hear, hear!
Forgive me for submitting in full the following advice on proper
quoting, taken from
<http://home.online.no/~vidaandr/news/FAQquoting.html>.
I do think it is relevant for the asa list. Please cut down on
unnecessary quoting!
All the best,
Stein
====================================================================
What is quoting?
----------------
Quoting means including original text from the news article you are
answering to in your own article. Lines with quoted text are normally
marked with a special character at the beginning of the line,
preferably >.
How do you quote?
-----------------
Most newsreaders automatically quote the entire text when you post a
follow-up to an article.
What are the most common mistakes?
----------------------------------
--- Placing your own text before the quoted text.
You should always put your own text below the text you are
commenting; this makes it a lot easier for others to see the
contextual meaning of your text.
--- Quoting too much.
You should only include the parts of the original text that are
needed to give your answers meaning - remember that the readers
already have read the article you are quoting. Rule of thumb: at
least half of your article should be your own text. Quoting quoted
text should only be done when necessary to preserve context.
--- Quoting signatures.
No need to do that.
--- Conserving space.
Insert an empty line between the text you are quoting and your own
text. An easy way to enhance legibility.
--- Not telling whom you are quoting.
Most newsreaders automatically add a line at the beginning of your
article, telling who wrote the article you are quoting - leave it
there! If you are using a newsreader that doesn't include this -
do it yourself!
Why spend time and energy on correct quoting?
---------------------------------------------
1. Your article becomes much easier to read.
2. It decreases the possibility of people concentrating on how you
say things, instead of what you mean to say.
3. You are saving bandwidth.
4. There is no need to tell the world you are a newbie!
-- Stein Arild Str¯mme +47 55584825, +47 95801887 Universitetet i Bergen Fax: +47 55589672 Matematisk institutt www.mi.uib.no/stromme Johs Brunsg 12, N-5008 BERGEN stromme@mi.uib.no
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