The fear of having your work stolen is real and it happens! Many people either don't know how to cite or maybe they don't want to cite (and in fact are stealing your work to pass it off as their own). Either way, that is plagiarism and should not happen!
So a dilemma exists for many people who want to use their wiki or their blog to share their small project, or their ideas or maybe even the results of a large study... they may not get any "glory"
This is how I view the dilemma (today) about what to put online and what to try to publish through the "formal channels"...
- Primarily my role is to find and make sense of information and translate this for use by others
- It is not about "glory"... even though I love a bit of a spotlight :-)
- Sharing my work through journal publications is one way to get new information to the community andpublishing in journals and books is still the most accepted form of currency for my employer to understand that I am contributing
- Web 2.0 tools such as wikis and blogs and podcasts etc are excellent tools for quick dissemination of information, and it is a good idea to promote your published material there for people who don't have ready access to databases and journals etc
Question to the ether... "in the professional arena what do you withhold from your blog or wiki and why"