Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!uccba!uceng!dmocsny
From: dmocsny@uceng.UC.EDU (daniel mocsny)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: Standardized Reference Format
Summary: Standards and real wealth.
Keywords: Text, References
Message-ID: <287@uceng.UC.EDU>
Date: 28 Sep 88 14:24:51 GMT
References: <2686@ihwpt.ATT.COM> <3515@phri.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of Cincinnati, College of Engg.
Lines: 51

In article <3515@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes:
> dem@ihwpt.ATT.COM (David E. Martin) writes:
> > I am looking for the standard way of referencing articles in technical
> > papers.  IU think the IEEE has published some sort of standard or guideline
> > on where all the commas, boldface, periods, etc. go.
> 
> 	Unfortunately, you are on a wild goose chase.  To my constant and
> extreme irritation, there is no one standardized reference citation format.
> [ excellent elaboration deleted ]

Ah, accidents and essence. The technical professional's job is
difficult enough already without the enormous accidental complexity
that is our literature. When a technical professional must squander
chunks of his/her fleeting productive lifespan grappling with
accidents, the cost of research results goes up. Non-cooperation on
the part of the keepers of the sacred knowledge of our tribe(s)
constitutes outright wealth destruction.

Science is no longer the leisurely pastime of landed gentry. The
problems threating our existence know no disciplinary bounds.
Technical professionals need a transparent system that allows them to
focus their energies on problems, instead of attempting to communicate
with each other.

The time has come for us to overhaul our system of recording and
disseminating results. The present system is essentially the same as
the one that served Isaac Newton. It is hopelessly inadequate in an
age of rapid advancements and burgeoning knowledge. We now have the
technology to encode hundreds of journals on a single optical disk at
a cost under $10. We are building networks that can cut our
time-to-publication from months and years to hours and days.  We must
remove any institutional and accidental barriers that compromise our
effectiveness, our careers, and our ability to serve the public.

The technical community must assume responsibility for its knowledge
resources.  We must demand and get a system that serves us.  We need
detailed and universal standards for preparing and citing written
works. We must agree upon a way to create technical documents so we
can all access them electronically.  We need to insure that every
non-proprietary result is immediately available to any technical
professional who needs it, at the lowest possible cost.

I know I'm not the first to open my yap on this question. However, we
must recognize that when disorganization in our community makes our
jobs harder, we are robbing ourselves. Because computer display
quality is still rather inadequate (at realistic prices), paper still
has a role to play in the final presentation of information. However,
our reliance on paper as an information storage and distribution
medium is now unnecessary and even harmful.

Dan Mocsny