[Air-L] Credentials

[rberkman at aol.com]

In my opinion, any rel;evant?"context" always helps one assess and? better understand the message. In today's world of Web 2.0 and user generated information, a credentialed title for some is a plus, but actually for some people, a certain level of credentials could even be a minus!



The point is--I don't think it's prejudicial to provide relevant contextual information--one's region, university, and degree all say "something" likely true about that person's experiences and outlook, and then the reader, can choose to evaluate that context however they like.



In a related note, I"ve been frustrated by the increasing number of blogs, Web sites, etc. that contain absolutely zero contact information--not even an email address--about the creator or author. There seems to be a trend that "what one says" is enough, but if one wants to get in touch with the author, it can be very frustrating when there's no easy way to do so. (On that point, I have just finished an article to address this point on sites and strategies for finding contact information, including emails on persons in a forthcoming issue of my professional journal, The Information Advisor (www.informationadvisor.com). If anyone wants a copy of the article, please email me directly)



Robert Berkman

Editor, The Information Advisor

Associate Professor, Media Studies

The New School

New York, NY


-----Original Message-----
From: Dominic Pinto <dominic.pinto at ieee.org>
To: jeremy hunsinger <jhuns at vt.edu>
Cc: air-l at aoir.org
Sent: Tue, Aug 18, 2009 9:20 am
Subject: Re: [Air-L] Credentials



I agree.?
?
Dominic?
?
jeremy hunsinger wrote:?
> I tend to think this is against the spirit of aoir as i've understood > it to some extent. the idea should be more that... anyone with any > credential or none can provide you answers that are as strong as any > others. in short, my position is "I'd prefer the collegiality of > shared knowledge over credentials any day". some of our best > contributors in recent years have been undergraduate and graduate > students and i'd like this to continue unhindered by the burden of > being credentialed.?
>?
> so i'd say, no, people should not bother with credentials unless they > personally feel that they need to 'represent' them for whatever > reason. so we can have 'both', but there should be no feeling of > compulsion or necessary association between credentials and expertise > that people should assume.?
>?
>?
> but that's just me....?
>?
> jeremy?
<snip>?
?
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