personal guidelines for this blog
1) I hope to glorify God with this blog. After that, my main purpose is my own enjoyment. I enjoy finding and organizing information, and researching new things. I enjoy (usually) setting myself the goal of producing something halfway sensible every day, and meeting that goal. I enjoy thinking that someone else occasionally reads what I write. I enjoy interaction with other people on-line.
2) I will try not to let blogging, or reading feeds, interfere with my relationship with God, or with my family, or my job (so long as I have one).
3) I will not embarrass any living human by posting personal information about him or her.
(This doesn't apply to public figures, or to persons, such as other bloggers, who have already provided access to some of their information. It may not apply to people who give explicit permission for personal information, or their images, to be posted, or request that it be.)
4) I will not violate copyright*. Quotations will be brief, and will be attributed accurately. A link to a live web page will be included, if the source is the Internet. If I got it from printed material, I will try to give the publication details, including page number(s), accurately. Public domain material will be used, if possible. I will not quote from modern versions of the Bible, except for occasional brief excerpts, because modern versions are copyrighted. (Parenthesis added May 25, 2009 -- The English Standard Version does allow use in a blog, if properly attributed. I now use it a lot.) Photos and graphics will be my own, or public domain.
5) I will try to post only accurate information. I will welcome comments pointing out errors of fact, English usage errors, and significant omissions.
6) I will respect the views of others, even if we disagree. I will be grateful for any feedback, even if it seems negative or ignorant (Matthew 18), and encourage comments that criticize anything I have said, or show that I haven't made it clear enough. I will try to acknowledge the contributions of others, subject to guideline 3.
7) I will try not to post anything principally for the purpose of attracting attention.
8) I will try to remember that much of what is posted on this blog probably is of little interest to anyone. (I wouldn't have read some of it myself, if I hadn't written it!) However, if others find anything of value, they are welcome to use material posted, so long as they do not try to prevent others from also doing so. In other words, I don't want any one else copyrighting my material--other people should always be able to use it if they want to.
Normally, I won't expect others to ask permission to use my material, but do expect a link to the original, if the use is on-line. If it's in printed media, the URL would be expected. If the use is more than incidental, for example, an extended comment on something I have done, or reproduction of most or all of a post**, I expect a comment or other communication, informing me of this use.
I intend to follow this guideline myself, if using or commenting extensively on something someone else has posted. I will not assume what others have written is there for my use, without some sort of permission, such as that indicated for my material in this post, or explicit permission by e-mail or exchange of comments.
9) I will try to encourage other bloggers, by a positive comment and/or a link.
When there is an opportunity, and I actually know something useful, I will try to help others with technical questions.
Added November 18, 2006: Another person's take on guidelines for a blog, better put than mine (and by a more important blogger) is here.
*I may have violated guideline 4 in yesterday's post. I don't know if that was a copyrighted picture of my grandparents-in-law. I hope not.
**Compare my post with this one (which was done with my permission, and I appreciate having been asked).
5 comments:
Fair enough. I expect a person will ask permission before reproducing a whole post as my blog is copyright to me.
Commets are interesting - personally I have a comment trackback policy so people know where they stand. I like discussion - but I'm not into people who are just looking for arguments or who are abusive. Interesting post Martin.
Good stuff, Martin. I wish I had said it myself!
Thank you both.
At least a couple things I should work on are my blogroll, and the use of trackbacks.
As I understand it, anything anyone posts on the web is copyrighted automatically. I have no problem if some bloggers actually expect this law to be followed. I just prefer that my stuff be freely available, so long as no one else tries to copyright it. Most of it, maybe all of it, isn't worth worrying over this issue.
Martin, this is really thoughtful.
I'm interested in the implications of 7)
7) I will try not to post anything principally for the purpose of attracting attention.
which is a challenge to manage in a world full of people who use the internet just to do that.
6/20/2008.
Thanks, edward vielmetti. I may have violated that one a few times. I hope not. Some people seem to violate it all the time.
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