I wonder if anyone is doing anything on this that might be appropriate for 
GCSE or A level students?  Or even younger students?  The earlier they know 
about this issue the better.

Kathy

Kathy Lemaire
Chief Executive
The School Library Association
Unit 2, Lotmead Business Village
Wanborough, Swindon, SN4 0UY, UK
tel: +44 (0)1793 791787  fax: +44 (0)1793 791786
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.SLA.org.uk
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "R.E.Stubbings" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 12:09 PM
Subject: [SPAM] Library roles in relation to plagiarism - summary of 
resonses


Dear All,



On the 10th February a message was put on lis-infoliteracy asking other
academic libraries how they support researchers understanding of plagiarism.
I would like to thank everyone who responded.  Below is a summary of the
seven responses I received.  I hope I have paraphrased everyone okay.
Please shout if you think I haven't or if there is anything else you would
like to add.



The questions were:

1.      Do you provide guidance to PhD supervisors on how to prevent and
detect plagiarism?  If yes, please give details.

2.      Do you provide guidance to PhD students on to avoid being a
plagiarist? If yes, please give details.

3.      Do you provide guidance to all researchers on plagiarism?  If yes,
please give details.



Two respondents stated that advice on plagiarism was given to PhD students:

·        As part of an induction session for all research students in the
School of Humanities, where other topics were also discussed

·        Via a recent newsletter aimed at staff and PhD students that
outlined what plagiarism is and what it involves.



Two respondents have given advice to staff  on plagiarism:

·        Academic Librarian liaises closely with School of Humanities
Learning and Quality and Research committees and provide guidance on library
related skills and issues. Circulated details of the Turnitin resources to
all staff in the School to make them aware of ways to detect and deter
plagiarism.

·        Via a newsletter



However, the message coming through, seemed to be that few institutions are
talking specifically to researchers about what plagiarism is and techniques
on how to avoid being a plagiarist.  Guidance tended to be general and aimed
at undergraduate and postgraduate students and included guidance on
referencing



One library works with the students' union to run joint sessions on
plagiarism which can be attended by UG or PG students.   They had one
instance of an entire research group attending at the request of their
supervisor.



At one institution the responsibility for alerting students to the dangers
of plagiarism and how to avoid it is clearly in the remit of the academic
Schools (appears in the Unfair Practice guidelines).  The Registry helps and
advises Schools in this regard and put together a guidance note for students
some time back.  However, the library supports School endeavours in a number
of ways.  For example, some information specialists are requested to run
classes on avoiding plagiarism and citing references.  However, in most
Schools the information specialist teaches how to cite references but
doesn't labour on how to paraphrase, note-take, writing skills



One Library has won funding to develop an online information skills course
(within WebCT).  This will be aimed at Humanities students of all levels and
will include a module on referencing and plagiarism, but will also include
some modules, which will primarily be used by postgraduates, such as
dissemination and communication of academic writing which will cover
intellectual property.  This is a Humanities project in the first instance
but hope that once it is successfully piloted in School it could be
developed wider within the University.  The academic librarian concerned has
been approached by the Humanities Faculty to get involved in an initiative
in next academic year - details as yet unknown.  She is also liaising on a
University wide plagiarism initiative with the Student Union and at their
request recently contributed an article on how to avoid plagiarism to the
student newspaper.



One respondent has a subject librarian who is responsible for keeping up to
date plagiarism and keeps colleagues informed of new developments.



All respondents have created material on plagiarism that is aimed at both UG
and PG.  Some examples are available at:

  a.. http://www.ucd.ie/library/students/info_literacy/plagiari.htm
  b.. http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/plagiarism/
  c.. http://www.lisa.lsbu.ac.uk/helpsheets/hs4.pdf
  d.. https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/plagiarism/index.html
  e.. http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/library/skill/plagiarism.html
I thought I should let you know what we are doing at Loughborough.  Most
Academic Librarians do at some point talk to staff and students about
plagiarism - what causes it and how to avoid it.  I talk a lot about it to
the Deans, Academic Registry and Professional development, as it has been
one of my bug bears for several years.  I am concerned that everyone talks
too much about how to detect it, rather than designing it out of the
curriculum.  More and  more departments are asking us to run courses for
students on it and we do have material on our virtual learning environment
on it.

Two years ago we started to run courses aimed at research students called
Plagiarism, citation and RefWorks.  These courses are popular as PhD
students are concerned about accidentally plagiarising and they want to know
lots about RefWorks.

Thanks again for everyones responses,
Ruth

Ruth Stubbings
Academic Services Manager
Pilkington Library
Loughborough University
Loughborough, LE 1  3TU
Tel: (01509) 222345
Email: [log in to unmask]