LIVING UP TO ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Rich · 2nd June 2012, 03:10 PM

I would tend to disagree with making this an accredited academic forum. There are few (I don't know of any offhand) accredited universities that grant doctorates in ancient or ethnographic weapons. There is also the problem of who on the forum would be responsible for verifying the poster's degree and the accreditation of the institution? Of course there are many internet sites where you can purchase a degree of any level in any topic you wish. We have lots of knowledgeable folks on the forum and (as a scientist) I also consider any reply as an opinion not necessarily as absolute fact. Let's leave well enough alone.

Rich S
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Richard Stein, PhD

The Japanese Sword Index
http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm

"Never go anywhere without a knife"
- Leroy Jethro Gibbs
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Mefidk · 2nd June 2012, 10:36 PM

I'd like to support the last two points of view.
I do this for fun, and because its great to learn more, but if it became 'accredited' and I suddenly began to feel that I should up my game, then it would be just like work, and the fun would go out of it pretty fast. Like a number of others here (as far as I can gather), I am also a professional academic in a whole other field, and that functions nothing like the EAA forum. The differences being that 1) by and large most people here are happy to share and help those just starting out or asking questions because they would like to learn more. 2) here you can make mistakes, use the

smiley and not worry - this should not be confused with professional academic practice.
The forum makes a fantastic contribution to the knowledge in the area precisely because anyone can contribute and people feel relaxed about doing this regardless of their status. So my personal point of view is please leave the friendly and well functioning forum alone.

2nd June 2012, 03:10 PM	#1
Rich Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: comfortably at home, USA Posts: 432	I would tend to disagree with making this an accredited academic forum. There are few (I don't know of any offhand) accredited universities that grant doctorates in ancient or ethnographic weapons. There is also the problem of who on the forum would be responsible for verifying the poster's degree and the accreditation of the institution? Of course there are many internet sites where you can purchase a degree of any level in any topic you wish. We have lots of knowledgeable folks on the forum and (as a scientist) I also consider any reply as an opinion not necessarily as absolute fact. Let's leave well enough alone. Rich S ------------------------------------------------------------ Richard Stein, PhD The Japanese Sword Index http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm "Never go anywhere without a knife" - Leroy Jethro Gibbs -------------------------------------------------------------- Last edited by Rich; 2nd June 2012 at 06:02 PM. Reason: delete email address

2nd June 2012, 10:36 PM	#2
Mefidk Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Denmark Posts: 157	I'd like to support the last two points of view. I do this for fun, and because its great to learn more, but if it became 'accredited' and I suddenly began to feel that I should up my game, then it would be just like work, and the fun would go out of it pretty fast. Like a number of others here (as far as I can gather), I am also a professional academic in a whole other field, and that functions nothing like the EAA forum. The differences being that 1) by and large most people here are happy to share and help those just starting out or asking questions because they would like to learn more. 2) here you can make mistakes, use the smiley and not worry - this should not be confused with professional academic practice. The forum makes a fantastic contribution to the knowledge in the area precisely because anyone can contribute and people feel relaxed about doing this regardless of their status. So my personal point of view is please leave the friendly and well functioning forum alone.