Plagiarism and the Digital Age

Tools

By Brenda Bassett

Story Published: Aug 31, 2010 at 5:45 PM MST

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2010 at 5:46 PM MST

BILLINGS - The Digital Age is becoming the norm for many of us, whether it's checking our email or corresponding on Facebook. The information can be overwhelming. But, this easily accessible information can be someone's intellectual property. Now, the Digital Age is creating some gray areas for students when it comes to plagiarism.
Plagiarism has long been described as copying or stealing someone else's written work and presenting it as your own. But today, it's taking on a new dimension. "The lines that surround intellectual property are kind of blurred for today's students," said MSU-B Library Director Brent Roberts.
Those blurred lines come from a change in technology. Previously, you took your pen or even poised your fingers over your keyboard and copied the words from a book. Now, it's just an easy, copy/paste away. MSU-Billings English Professor Deborah Schaffer says young writers need to learn and follow the rules. "The central issue is not that students are becoming intellectual criminals, but that we have to make sure that as things change, the guidelines for proper crediting of sources of information are drilled into people's heads."
Teachers have long tried to instruct their students on the proper way to cite sources but the gap continues to widen. Students have trouble grasping the idea that all the information out on the web isn't public property and certainly not common knowledge and that's where the gray area between teachers and students is created.
Schaffer and others stress the importance of proper attribution but have ramped up the resources on their end to help combat deliberate plagiarism. "We have software such as turn it in, it's a software package that's helps faculty identify certain situations where plagiarism may have taken place," said Roberts.
Administrators say students need similar tools when they go into the workforce because plagiarism is still a serious issue. "It is to the people who matter, that is academic authority figures, professor's, administrators, employers. People are very unforgiving of plagiarism and it's up to writers to step up their games," said Schaffer.

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