3.9 Elements of Attributions
Importance of Attributions
When you quote an author, you give a citation. The same idea applies to using educational resources created by someone else. An attribution is the "credit" for the entity that owns the copyright of a work. Attributions serve many purposes:
- Connect users back to the original content, and provide a way to describe how the work might have been modified.
- Provide information about the original creator.
- Ensure that the original creator gets attention for the work she created or sponsored.
- Tell future users what rights are associated with the creative work.
- Demonstrate to future users the source of the material.
Elements of Attribution
Creative Commons suggests that the minimum elements of every attribution include the title, author, source, and license (TASL) so that readers have a basic understanding of where materials come from. There are multiple ways to meet the TASL requirements, as demonstrated by the Creative Commons Wiki Page on Attribution Links to an external site.. To simplify and provide uniformity for our attribution styles for this course, we are using the Open Attribution Builder Links to an external site. (OAB) by Open Washington as a style tool for writing attributions. Canvas even has the OAB built-in. Ask your Canvas system administrator for information about using the OAB directly in Canvas.
Attributions vs Citations
View this slideshow on the difference between citations and attributions Download difference between citations and attributions.
When Is Attribution Not Needed?
We'll say that attribution is always needed. We view attribution an effective practice of digital citizenship--transparent in disclosing the ownership, rights, and restrictions associated with content; and ethical in giving credit to those who created the work.
For the most part public domain works have either aged out of copyright, or were created by an entity that can't use copyright protections. An example of such an entity is any agency of the United States Government. For more information on works that have aged out of copyright restrictions, please see the Cornell University Library page on Copyright Terms Links to an external site..
Attributions:
Image: "BY icon Links to an external site." by Creative Commons Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.
"Citations vs. Attributions" Links to an external site. by Amy Hofer Links to an external site., Open Oregon Educational Resources Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site. / A derivative from the original work Links to an external site. by Quill West Links to an external site.