This work examines and critiques the history, use, and abuse of various literary systems of documentation. Throughout history, such systems have been employed in different ways and through various applications in order to attribute, comment, translate, reference, or otherwise remark tangentially on a primary text. The work studies all forms of documentation used in the Western world—from ancient Biblical commentaries, to the medieval gloss, to the current systems used by researchers in the humanities and social and hard sciences. Topics include the historical development of documentation; the specific advantages and disadvantages of Chicago, APA, MLA, and other current styles; and the common misuses or intentional deceptions within modern documentation practices.

Robert Hauptman is professor emeritus of St. Cloud State University and editor of the Journal of Information Ethics.

Robert Hauptman
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: 63 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3333-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Foreword by David Henige      1
Preface      5

1. Purpose      7
2. Development      14
3. Commentary      35
4. Marginalia      71
5. Footnotes      112
6. Illustration      128
7. The Major Systems      148
8. Errors      168
9. Misconduct      179
10. Citation Indexing and Analysis      189
11. Conclusion      200

Notes      205
Bibliography      209
Index      223

“of interest for academicians and librarians…quite a fascinating read…should be included in any academic library and should be required reading for anyone”—Counterpoise; “fascinating”—Times Higher Education; “fascinating…this is an extremely enjoyable work to read…delightful…is a fine text that’s both educational and entertaining”—College & Research Libraries; “fascinating study…should be in all graduate libraries”—Feliciter; “Hauptman covers a lot of territory here, displaying a remarkable breadth of knowledge both on the subject of citation…and on the history of literature in general”—Libraries & the Cultural Record; “highly entertaining scholarly study…excellent”—Springer Science & Business Media.