The Blind leading the blind... what should one do?
The Blind leading the blind... what should one do?
(OP)
Google alerts often bring me some amusement but some concern also.
Usually several identical articles will pop up posted on a variety of unlikely websites, and are often gobbledegook.
OK, Wiki proved by far the better commercial model than Encarta though one suspects that Encarta had a more sound approach when purveying information and who knows what has happened to DMOZ but there are a number of imitation "knowledge" sites out there which appear to have even less editorial and quality control. Pretty well anything seems to get posted and pass muster.
One thing is clear, these are not peer reviewed articles and are often flawed.
Here is an example Google alerts brought me for flow meters.
http: //voiceove rinternetp rotocol-vo ip.com/tec hnology/fl ow-meters- and-flow-m anagement/
Author: Tina L Jones
http ://www.art icles-cent ral.info/A rt/200596/ 159/Flow-M eters-And- Flow-Manag ement.html
Author: Fabian Tan (this is the sort of nom de guerre pornstars like).
Fabina Tan has been busy, he also posted here:
http://www .woodburyc inema.com/ flow-meter s-as-well- as-flow-co ntrol.html
Variations appear such as:
ht tp://build ernews.gal anter.net/ 2010/02/14 /flow-mete rs-as-well -as-flow-m anagement/
Never mind the broken English, which in some of the variations does appear to be addressed, one suspects these people grab a text book, or more likely an article on another web site, and rehash it as their own without properly understanding what they have found. They perpetuate errors and misconceptions. What they reveal is a lack of understanding of the subject matter. A bit like some low attendance record student essay which has found its way onto the internet.
How widespread is this?
The questions to ask are
"why do they bother?" (just for interest)
"What benefit does this sort of junk posting bring?"
"What harm can they do?"
I've found other examples on websites authored by "industry professionals" that have concerned me.
One, for example, was a young marine engineer posting about fuel oil viscosity.
The article was wrong in several small areas and about 12 years out of date on the technology.
What it didn't do was provide the sort of clear description that would help anyone, the contrary, it would likely confuse or at best not actually benefit anyone.
In this case I don't see the harm it would have done, others might.
As it happens, the author of the article cited his reference as a publication from 1991.
One is lead to suppose that this young qualified engineer actually has no first hand experience of engineering aboard a vessel and has simply created his article from what he read in this text book, 19 years out of date.
That was his sole reference.
In 19 years a great deal has changed in the marine industry with engines, ships, fuels instrumentation, and so on. Yet here is someone posting supposedly authoritative articles.
The final, and most important question is what should one do when encountering such published articles?
If they are simply seemingly innocuous student essay type howlers, if they appear on supposed Wiki Look alike sites, on general blogs or in professional industry forums?
This is where it gets troubling. This is a qualified industry professional on an industry website, "informing others".
Usually several identical articles will pop up posted on a variety of unlikely websites, and are often gobbledegook.
OK, Wiki proved by far the better commercial model than Encarta though one suspects that Encarta had a more sound approach when purveying information and who knows what has happened to DMOZ but there are a number of imitation "knowledge" sites out there which appear to have even less editorial and quality control. Pretty well anything seems to get posted and pass muster.
One thing is clear, these are not peer reviewed articles and are often flawed.
Here is an example Google alerts brought me for flow meters.
http:
Author: Tina L Jones
http
Author: Fabian Tan (this is the sort of nom de guerre pornstars like).
Fabina Tan has been busy, he also posted here:
http://www
Variations appear such as:
ht
Never mind the broken English, which in some of the variations does appear to be addressed, one suspects these people grab a text book, or more likely an article on another web site, and rehash it as their own without properly understanding what they have found. They perpetuate errors and misconceptions. What they reveal is a lack of understanding of the subject matter. A bit like some low attendance record student essay which has found its way onto the internet.
How widespread is this?
The questions to ask are
"why do they bother?" (just for interest)
"What benefit does this sort of junk posting bring?"
"What harm can they do?"
I've found other examples on websites authored by "industry professionals" that have concerned me.
One, for example, was a young marine engineer posting about fuel oil viscosity.
The article was wrong in several small areas and about 12 years out of date on the technology.
What it didn't do was provide the sort of clear description that would help anyone, the contrary, it would likely confuse or at best not actually benefit anyone.
In this case I don't see the harm it would have done, others might.
As it happens, the author of the article cited his reference as a publication from 1991.
One is lead to suppose that this young qualified engineer actually has no first hand experience of engineering aboard a vessel and has simply created his article from what he read in this text book, 19 years out of date.
That was his sole reference.
In 19 years a great deal has changed in the marine industry with engines, ships, fuels instrumentation, and so on. Yet here is someone posting supposedly authoritative articles.
The final, and most important question is what should one do when encountering such published articles?
If they are simply seemingly innocuous student essay type howlers, if they appear on supposed Wiki Look alike sites, on general blogs or in professional industry forums?
This is where it gets troubling. This is a qualified industry professional on an industry website, "informing others".





RE: The Blind leading the blind... what should one do?
Upon finding one in a new textbook, you would probably notify the publisher.
Thus endeth your responsibility.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: The Blind leading the blind... what should one do?
RE: The Blind leading the blind... what should one do?
I am currently doing this for my blog right now. But only writing non technical articles that I think would be interesting to at least one other person than me.
The spamming of the internet is mainly happening because of the SEO techniques to get higher in the GOOG. I find this very annoying as you probably see all the garbage comments on any blogs you read.
I would email the articles website and tell them that what you are readying is bad information. I think to get posted you just submit and someone will read and verify it's a somewhat real article.
As an example I will post what I copy and pasted from my companies' blog to another site.
http:
Civil Development Group, LLC
Los Angeles Civil Engineering specializing in Hillside Grading
http://civildevelopmentgroup.com
http://civildevelopmentgroup.com/blog
RE: The Blind leading the blind... what should one do?
I have a website because I feel like having one, and I am willing to pay the five bucks a month to keep it up. If that is not a guarantee of quality, I don't know what is.
The rule here is that you cannot treat websites as an authoritive source of anything. You have to validate them.
- Check out several sources to see if they agree, and to see if, possibly, they agree word for word.
- Work your way down the URL and find out what the website is about. For example, http://www.woodburycinema.com would not be my top source for information on flowmeters. I spent an afternoon looking up the Thugs, the Indian murder cult. One site, with a detailed summary of Captain William Sleeman's book on them, turned out to be a white power site.
- Is there a peer review source? EngTips and Wikipedia have peer review mechanisms. Probably, Woodbury Cinemas does not.
Here is the About page from Wooodbury Cinema.RE: The Blind leading the blind... what should one do?
Oh yeah, and contribute to the communication of the truth as you see it, with an open mind to learning something new in the process. Light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.