Can You Use a Message Board as a Reference in a College Paper?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:02pm

Just wondering, as it seems that a lot of people use this board to research papers. Is a message board now a legit source for research?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:05pm

ah....NO.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:05pm

Sorry, RentBoy does it, so I thought it was okay. He is the golden standard.

[Dancinqueen123]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:06pm

It should be legit! It would make my life easier!

Updated On: 5/12/06 at 05:06 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:08pm

I love making everyone else do my leg work. School is hard.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:09pm

No...BUT it can be a good resource in the sense that people can point you in the right direction. Naming books to read, or other sources that would help with research. That's why I don't get too concerned when most people accuse somebody of us doing their homework for them...really they can't cite us as a source, so they are going to have to do their own research anyways.

Akiva
Updated On: 5/12/06 at 05:09 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:11pm

Then what's the point of this board if they're not going to do my research for me?

[mominator]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:23pm

I wouldn't try it.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:28pm

Actually...

MLA DOES have a format for quoting a post on a message board.

But most professor discourage it - as the poster could be a 12 year old drug lord in Maine.

Not that I live in Maine.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:34pm

no school in California would accept it........of that I am sure, as it's not a reference source. You CAN quote what someone says, but that's really it.

[Craig]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:37pm

Actually...

MLA DOES have a format for quoting a post on a message board.

But most professor discourage it - as the poster could be a 12 year old drug lord in Maine.

Not that I live in Maine.

but you are a 12 year old drug lord?

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 7:39pm

For most...legit, old-fashioned papers, it's very much discouraged. My English professor only lets us quote anything on the Internet that is a site that's .edu or .org.

However, I took a class on fanatics, and a lot of papers involved "research" from message boards.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 8:28pm

No.

I specifically asked my professor and he said unless it's a known site (ie: CNN.com) it cannot be used for the paper.

If we need 7 sources, we have to get 5 of them from the college database, and 2 from anywhere else like a .edu or .org.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 8:29pm

sweet, are you telling me all 7 have to be online sources? They don't make you use print sources?

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 8:32pm

" and 2 from anywhere else like a .edu or .org. "

No, we need 5 from the college database (which is online). The other two can be from anywhere- I was giving .edu and .org as examples instead of .com.

But, we are allowed to use printed sources also. In fact, it is prefered if you use a printed source but it is not required.

Also, you can use more than 7 sources; 7 is just the minumum.

Updated On: 5/12/06 at 08:32 PM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 8:34pm

good....it should be required......what college if you don't mind me asking? I want to go see if they have our databases......it's perfectly fine if you don't want to share which one.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 8:39pm

Ya- sorry Elphaba- I don't exactly feel comfortable giving out that information.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 8:54pm

For us it was always 2 BOOK sources before we could use an Internet source.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 9:01pm

"For us it was always 2 BOOK sources before we could use an Internet source."

It used to be like that for us. Only in the last 2 years has it changed.