Following up

[jmc_bks]

Jane's post about the alleged Lanaia Lee plagiarism of David Gemmell's work, along with the follow up post on libel and defamation got me thinking about last year's plagiarism accusation: Kaavya Viswanathan. Not too long ago, I saw that my library still has copies of her book circulating. When I asked at the reference desk, the librarian on duty checked with a couple of other librarians, then said that he didn't know what the library's policy was in that situation or even if they had one. So I checked into the Ask Us Now chat helpline today -- no answer there, although they've referred my question to the administrative office. I'm really interested in knowing if there is any policy at all.

Comments

[davidgallaher1.livejournal.com]

I find this stuff rather interesting.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

The Lee-Gemmell allegations have become kind of soap operaish in some ways, with the devolution into name calling and personal excuses and attacks.

If you're interested in a short historical summary and discussion of originality vs. creativity, you could check out Richard Posner's The Little Book of Plagiarism. I thought it was very clear and well-written, although I didn't necessarily agree with some of Posners arguments and conclusions.