credit, attribution and privilege

meg sends word of a debate on feministing and physioprof regarding intellectual appropriation and attribution of credit in blogging. a selection:

When any of us have a soapbox, an opportunity to get up and talk, we must continue to stand by those who aren’t called on. If you want to consider yourself an anti-racist or a white ally to people of color — if you want anyone else to consider you those things — then it behooves you to swim against the current. If everyone did, perhaps the tides would turn, even if it was just in our corner of the blogosphere. And sometimes all you have to do is simply call out the hard work of another woman who went before you, who has paved the path that you’re walking down with research and ideas and words and strong feelings. All you have to do is cover your bases, pay your respects, and make sure you can’t be read as trying to take sole credit.

i like to fall back on the idea that the blog is just a blog, realizing of course that this doesn't absolve me of responsibility for awarding credit where credit is due. in such a spirit, i should point out that while i cited eszter in my POQ special issue post but that meg on the student board had earlier pitched an article in this special issue as a potential contexts discovery. i should have remembered this, but it seems i have to hear something two or three times before it really sticks these days.