Should we also be verifying questions for copying and pasting?

When it comes to answers... I'm definitely with you 100%. On the questions though, its a little less clear cut. I certainly can see why someone might ask the same question in different places.

Either to get more/better answers or simply to compare how different answer sites handle the same question. I can even see the merit in asking exactly the same question months or years after the original question was asked (as things may have changed and hence the answer will be different). In the example you gave it does look suspicious... but that may be down to the fact that its a quite simple question and a http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=%22What's+the+difference+between+a+writer+and+an+author?

%22&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 google search gave the yahoo answer that the answerer then copy and pasted. The question also came in via twitter, so I don't think banning them or even warning them for a twitter post that was then imported into mahalo seems either fair or desirable. The asker may have never actually never intended the question to end up being answered at mahalo!

I.

No we should not. As your example amply demonstrates, there are only so many ways of wording a question. It's highly likely that many people will have similar questions on their minds, and it is highly likely that some of them will end up wording the questions in the same way.

Just how many different ways do you think there are of asking whether the terms "author" and "writer" have different meanings? Also Mahalo should not be obsessed with SEO to the detriment of helping people. If people have a question they want the answer to, it is not our business to tell them: " the question was already asked and answered somewhere else."

Esp if that somewhere else is a site not known for being the most reliable. Currently Mahalo policy says there is no proplem with people asking a question which has been asked before on Mahalo. The same should apply to questions that were asked on other sites.

I haven't read all the answers yet, but I just wanted to chime in. "mahalo.com/answers/books-and-authors/wha... What's the difference between a writer and an author? " - Is a common question and there is no evidence that it was copy and pasted from Yahoo Answers, considering it was asked via Twitter I have a hard time agreeing with that theory.In fact if you type that phrase into Google you can find it in many different instances.

google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&safe=off&nu... Otherwise, this hasn't been an issue yet in the 9 months of Mahalo Answers history, if you suspect somebody doing this, and have evidence by all means present it and we will speak to that user and take it on a case by case basis Regards Jeff Community Manager.

We should. However I do not think the majority will. I try to verify the answers and verifying the questions is new to me.

I had not thought about it until right now. I still say that after a warning or two (Like you have been doing) then the new user should be penalized somehow and told of the possibility of being banned if the behavior continues. If this behavior is witnessed being done by anyone over a yellow belt then they should be banned permanently.No questions no second chances after the warning.

An example needs to be set.

For me I don't mind if the question is copy-pasted from other sites because not all people are able to read or see the "other sites" and I personally don't bother to look and look to so many sites cause there are lots of UNRELIABLE sites out there and I don't want to wast my time on them... Personally I don't mind answering a copy-pasted question cause frankly I won't know if it was... =) So I hope we just try to understand those people who copy-paste questions here because perhaps THEY WERE NOT SATISFIED WITH THE ANSWERS THEY GOT FROM SOME PLACE ELSE... MAHALO ROCKS...

This question does not clearly state the "need" behind the question. If the need is for Mahalo to avoid future liability because "fair use" doctrine is being violated by contributors, then I would concede that there is an issue. In the cited example, let's say the copy and paste answer is disallowed.

Then, there would be no answer to the question. For the sake of efficiency, I might rather see a copy and paste answer, than none at all, because, I would then have to do the search myself, and I would lose time. If the Mahalo question garnered more responses, even of the copy and paste kind, from different sites, this is like an aggregation service, and that has some utility in terms of efficiency, since it would allow me to compare answers that have been supplied by various sites, rather than having me peruse them individually.In the following question, I did a copy and paste on purpose, in response to a previous question on copy and paste: http://www.mahalo.com/answers/mahalo-answers-community/are-cut-and-paste-answers-acceptable-on-mahalo-if-you-acknowledge-where-they-came-from-isnt-this-still-a-form-of-plagiarism I did it on purpose for a variety of reasons, and it was interesting that shinju the present question asker, made a comment about it.

Yet, I thought my answer was a valid contribution, because up to that point, the "fair use" doctrine had not been discussed, and I thought it was appropriate at least to mention it. I could have just made a short comment, eg."Has anyone considered fair use doctrine," but then, people may not grasp the full impact of what I was getting at. For efficiency, I wanted to include the commentary verbatim, in that particular thread, rather than directing someone to read the material at a different site.

So again, I was satisfying my need for efficiency, and I doubt there was any violation of "fair use" I was quoting a government document, so I am sure they would not object that quotes from their documents be used freely and widely as possible.OK. If I am a good researcher, I admit, that I might experience boredom in reading the same copy and paste answer again, so paradoxically, the copy and paste answer "reduces my efficiency! " I see a problem with buddawiggi's response, of banning someone permanently.

This is just part of the punitive justice system. Who is going to be the judge? Is there no way of reforming a person so that he or she could again contribute?

People change. What if a percentage of my responses are copy and paste. Would you really want to ban me permanently?

What if I were a little crazy with this particular "flaw", is there no accomodation? What strategy could accommodate a certain amount of copy and paste, assuming it did not violate fair use doctrine? I was thinking on one, of using the report button and having one of its features be a notation, that this response has been flagged as a copy and paste, and then it would blank out the majority of the answer, but not remove it completely.

Viewers would have the option of clicking on a button to see the "duplicate" answer, and any commentary associated with this. Google search has this feature, stating that certain search results have been filtered out as duplicates. If you want to see them, you have this option.

So, I have so far discussed some of the needs, the need for safety, to avoid liability issues, the need for efficiency, the need for fairness and accommodation. I could brainstorm. The next need I see coming up for me is for "value" "relevance" and "contribution.

" We would like to have the Mahalo answer be the "best" one out there. Best, "operationally" defined as getting the top ranking in all the search engines because of the completeness of the answer, its informational value, its clarity and comprehensiveness, its timeliness. Would "copy and paste' add or detract from such an evaluation based upon this operational definition?

I am a great believer in "operational definitions," probably because of my background in physics. Well, I have to go right now, so I am posting this, even though incomplete. Duenhsiyen.

Answers should be verified no matter what. Answers that are copy and pasted without adhering to our guidelines should be mentioned as a comment to that member and that answer should be marked uninteresting. If a question makes it over to voting and all of the answers are copy and paste jobs, or crap answers, then yes, vote no best answer.

That will send a message to the members to follow our guidelines, and remove answers from our rankings.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.