DailyPost 945
CUT-COPY-PASTE
The original thoughts, writings, professional literature, analysis and wide and varied documentation of primary, secondary and tertiary variety; true, false, tangential et al form a digital knowledge repository. Students, faculty, professionals, bureaucrats, researchers; all are the users of this knowledge base. Cut-copy-paste has emerged as the popular method to use this resource, based on software enabled facility of cutting / copying which means picking up a part of the document and then pasting it wherever you require. It necessarily means that this becomes a part of the document which you are creating.
As per normal parlance it means that the content has been picked up recklessly without the user knowing the content and the purpose fully. In reality this great facility is to pick the right content from the right place, authenticated, as per your narrative, use your editing capabilities – seamless collation through addition, deletion, transition texts, introduction, findings, conclusion and other value add as required. The final product is the document of your requirement, authentic, with no contradictions and it is certainly your creation.
The process has become infamous because vast majority of the users don’t know what they are creating. They have no idea of the subject, what they intent to create, the nature of the document that they are creating, the methodology, true sources and validation. The technical process of Cut-copy-paste preceded by a search output and succeeded by a print out can never become a document. It is a milkshake made in a mixer with quality and quantity of most of the ingredients unknown. It should be at the barest minimum a world class patchwork, the product seamless, patches unnoticed and you are left with no choice but to marvel at the final product. Its all praise for the creator.
If all knowledge products were to have all ingredients original, what is the purpose of this knowledge base? Innovation works on known resources. People have become world renowned experts using this knowledge. Cut-copy-paste is an excellent technical facility to abridge preparation time. It has not been created for copying, cheating and plagiarism.
CUT-COPY-PASTE IS INTENDED TO EHANCE YOUR KNOWLEDGE NOT TO DECIMATE IT.
Sanjay Sahay