day two: 21st century writing

I am learning the ropes and exploring. I was laying in bed last night thinking about all the issues of copyright and footnotes and how they impact something like a blog which is instantly published. It means something different when you are taking a report from some where and adding it to your weblog. I was curious to see how my favorite blog writers do everything. I haven't paid much attention to the developing new rules since I became a blog reader since I was using them passively it didn't matter. So today I am off to read and learn from all the zillions of resources available to me via Google and the internet. First some reflection on my past that makes me wary.

In the 20th century when I went to public schools and learned to write term papers and book reports I was instructed that you never copy anyone's writing unless you put it in quotation marks and give them credit in a foot note typed at the bottom of the page or in the back of the report with a reference number. It was quite a feat of typing skill to leave enough room on a page when we used real typewriters. Special spacing skills were needed to squeeze in those foot notes and make the report look professional. I read several blogs and now that I have one of my own I must be careful  about giving credit where it is due. 

I also am very stimulated by pictures and I think I want to use them as my stepping off point in writing on this blog. The issues of copyrights on images is another area I am not sure how to deal with in a blog. If it is my own picture there are no questions but what about showing you images of art from great exhibits and books that I want to write about and share? I don't know quite how it is suppose to work. If anyone has suggestions and tips I am looking for help. Meanwhile I know I can use hot links which is much like a footnote or a credit. 

The first one I want to offer up here is the hot link to my pal Doug's home page. He painted the portrait I use here...

See many more of Douglas Kingsbury paintings at his simple and elegant web site gallery. The image on top of this post is mine of Doug working on my portrait in his studio.