Documentation for Study

A short list of do’s and don’ts for the study of any reference

materials

Was this my own words?

• If what you wrote is in your own words, then you should receive credit for what you wrote!

• You have to fully document what you wrote! • When you wrote it, why it was written, [etc.]

so you can be given full credit for what it was that was written.

Who wrote this?

• When I read something that sounds well thought out and written, but has no real documentation, I can only document where I read it, because I have no one to give the credit to, and no information as to who that person was, or where it originates. With the internet of today the Assembly receives E-Mails from all around the world. From Africa and India, to the US and Canada. I can’t even guess who you are or where.

Why was it written?

• The next step is to ascertain why you wrote it. What was the inspiration for writing it? Only you know if the Holy Spirit has given you insight into a passage that you want to do further research on, and how it applies to your life as well as others.

• Maybe it was inspired by a sermon that you heard, and credit should be given to the pastor or teacher that you heard the original thought from, as well, the name of the church or assembly where he or she is located.

• If you don’t know who wrote something in a church bulletin or hand-out, you can ask. If nothing else cite the name of the church, and where it is located. Who is the pastor? What date was it printed?

Why was it written?

• I have had thoughts in the middle of the day and researched them all day, and then wrote until the middle of the night. I’ve awoken in the middle of the night and wrote all night and day. There doesn’t seem to be a certain time for anything. The Holy Spirit can communicate with a person at any time. You have to always be ready! And be ready to look at the source and document where it was, or where it came from when you find these things!

Why was it written?

• You can keep notes of things that you find in your study and reading of the Scriptures, and other reference books. When you find something that is useful to you and write it down, ALWAYS write where it came from! Or you may end up as I have, searching for hours to find, “Where did I get that from?” It isn’t as easy to find something after the first time when you were there, to go back three days later, and try to find where you were.

Who should receive credit for it?

• I don’t have a desire to take credit for anything that I did not write. I do want to receive credit for what I have written. I also want to pass the credit for anything that I have found that someone else has written, just as much as I would want anyone else to give me the credit due for what I have done. Wouldn’t you?

Receiving credit

• Plagiarism is stealing. It also is illegal, immoral, and just plain dumb. Today I can find almost anything written by famous authors on the internet, and who, what, why, when, and where it came from! So can anyone else! There are no secrets about authorship any more if it is something that is really good. Of course, no one cares about the things that are bad, however, even they have to be documented. Basically, everything has to be documented!

Who’s Thought

• Who was the one that you called the writer of any research materials that you have used to compile your ‘thoughts’ in this research? Or was it really your thought?

• Full documentation is essential to alleviate any semblance of plagiarism. People have a tendency to sue over plagiarism. So what is plagiarism?

Plagiarism

• To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own: or use (another's production) without crediting the source. As an intransitive verb: to commit literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source. (Mish, 2007)

• {As above, did I write this? No it came from the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary by Frederick Mish, written in the year of 2007.}

THE ASSEMBLY IS FULLY AWARE THAT THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PIECES OF PERTINENT LITERATURE WRITTEN THAT WILL BE OF ASSISTANCE IN THE PRODUCTION OF LITERATURE FOR YOURSELF OR THE ASSEMBLY.

THERE MUST BE FULL DOCUMENTATION OF ANYTHING THAT IS SUBMITTED TO US. ALSO THERE MUST BE FULL DOCUMENTATION FOR YOUR SENSE OF WELL-BEING. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WROTE, AND WHAT YOU DIDN’T! OTHERS SHOULD ALSO.

Copyright Infringement

• The other part of documentation is “…was it copyrighted”, so that you need permission to reprint it? Many things that are copyrighted do need permission to be used even if properly cited. However, many can be reprinted in a short manner without explicit permission. The question is what are you doing? If you are rewriting the book, you need permission! If you are only using a couple of sentences for the content, cite the author and where it came from. This is usually sufficient.

Copyright Infringement

• If you are only using the ‘thought’ of another, don’t try to pass it off as your own! Cite what the original thought and source was, and what you got out of it as a topic for further research. Many sermons have started me thinking of something that was said. It might not be the actual topic that the sermon was about, but started me thinking about something said, where I went into further research into the thought that was revealed.

The Holy Spirit & Plagiarism

• Although it has been said that the Holy Spirit doesn’t tell anyone something different than another. There are different levels of understanding, as Paul wrote about the one group that were on milk, and Messiah spoke of others on meat. So it is that the Holy Spirit does tell you things of the level that you can understand. If we can all share what we are told and find in our research, we can maybe open the understanding of each other at all levels. This will help us all to move up a level at a time to a better understanding of the Sacred Scriptures and their meaning in our lives.

The Holy Spirit & Plagiarism

• Moreover, if all you are doing is rewriting what the Holy Spirit has given someone else, and you don’t give proper credit to that person, even if no one knows on this earth – The Holy Spirit knows! This Holy Spirit is not someone to which you should lie.

DEFINITIONS OF WORDS

Definitions of Words• TRUTH: {1. The first notation is the word that we are working with in English}• TRUTH Gk. {2. Second is the language that the word came from}• TRUTH: Gk. 225 {3. The third is the number for that word from Strong’s or other

sources}• TRUTH: Gk. 225 'ALETHEIA‘ {4. The Hebrew or Greek Word or words and

pronunciation pertaining to the original word - in this case = truth}• TRUTH: Gk. 225 'ALETHEIA' {5. Example only – [pt-mp='perfect participle, middle,

etc., (70), stresses the state brought about by the finished results of the action, see also: 57, 61] (Zodhiates, 1992)}; {Fifth is the grammatical code for the use of the word, these will come from resources such as “THE WORD STUDY NEW TESTAMENT” or “THE WORD STUDY OLD TESTAMENT” that have a list of grammatical codes for Hebrew or Greek words}

• {6. The source of the definition, Lexicon, dictionary, etc. and any other authors etc.}

• (7. Then the actual definition of the word and any other uses)

It would look like this

• TRUTH: Gk. 225 'ALETHEIA' (nn- noun, (51), name of a person place or thing, cases and declensions which indicate function in a sentence); Lex= Truth, as the unveiled reality lying at the basis of and agreeing with an appearance; the manifested, or the veritable essence of matter; also: Str. Dict= 'ALETHEIA ' al-ay-thi-a; (from 227); truth:--true, truth(107x), truly+1909(lx)

• {8. Any other definitions or uses of the word or words pertaining to the original word from other sources, authors, etc., and a word count of how many times the word is used. [the word count comes from the Strong’s expanded concordance]}

Next is

• AFTER THIS BASIS OF FACTS COME THE OTHER OCCURRENCES AND USES OF THE WORD, AND ANY OTHER WORDS THAT PERTAIN TO THE ORIGINAL WORD; ALSO OTHER DEFINITIONS FROM OTHER SOURCES FOR CLARITY AND GENERAL INFORMATION, AND ANY SCRIPTURE REFERENCES WHERE IT IS USED.

CITATIONS

Citations

• Should look like:• NEW 20th CENTURY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF

RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, J. D. Douglas; Second Edition, 1991, Baker House Books, Rev. Ed., ISBN: 0-8010-3002-1; Revised from (1853-68) Germany, "Realencyklopadic Fur Prostestan tische Theologieund Kirche", Brought to the English Speaking World by Scharf-Herzog, "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge", 1886.

Explanation of Citation

• THE NAME OF THE BOOK, The name of the author(s), and a semi-colon to show the end of the author(s);

• After the NAME OF THE BOOK, and the author(s); next is the date of printing, and/or any other books that it was revised from, or was to replace, and publisher, followed by the "ISBN" number and another semi-colon. This will end most citations.

Footnotes & Citations

• In some essays it will not be easy to add citations and all citations will have to be in a footnote or endnote

• The same citation will be in the footnote or endnote

• Citations in Microsoft “Word” are automatic

• The references tab will allow you to add citations easily

• They appear in the “Works Cited” at the end of the document

Works CitedMish, F. C. (Ed.). (2007). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, Massachusetts, USA: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

Zodhiates, S. (1992). Complete Word Study New Testament with Greek Parallel, King James Version (Vol. 3). (W. Baker, Ed.) Chattanooga, TN, USA: AMG.

This is what the “Works Cited” Dialog Box looks like, you probably have seen many of them.

Works Cited or Bibliography

• You can use whichever you prefer• Determine what you like as a standard for

your citations and use it in all your documents for a constant look to all your documents

• This will make it easier for others to know where to find items in your citations

When I go to look for a date of a writing, and look for a half hour, only to find that no date was given it wastes a lot of my time;

However,

If all citations are the same, and I want to know the date, and I go to the area for the date, and there is no date I can figure that no date was given.

DOCUMENTATION FOR STUDYThis ends this presentation of the Sacred Assembly