Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> (02/26/90)
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 1097. Monday, 26 Feb 1990. Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 21:52:42 EST From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Citing theses etc. Matthew Gilmore asks rhetorically why we "cite anything at all, and promptly replies, as "verification and proof of our sources." Might there not be another reason: to acknowledge the work of someone else upon which our own depends? As for the pointlessness of citing a thesis which, by its very nature, is difficult of access, it is difficult to accept this as an excuse for failure to cite or even quote at length, say, unique material drawn especially from out-of-the-way archives, private collections, and the like. It is precisely because material may be difficult of access that it should be drawn to the attention of others. Much the same can be said, mutatis mutandis, about theses - if it contributes to one's study I should think one is obliged to cite it on two grounds, to announce its usefulness and to acknowledge its assistance. Norman Zacour Dept. of History Univ. of Toronto zacour@vm.epas.utoronto.ca