[Year 12 IT Apps] Can anyone clarify

[Charmaine Taylor]

Hi David,
You are using the APA referencing method while VCAA uses the Harvard 
referencing method. Both are accepted in academic circles (although some 
schools designate their preferred method). I prefer the Harvard method 
but it doesn't really matter so long as the author is consistent in 
their application of their chosen method. There is a good guide to the 
Harvard method at www.usq.edu.au/library website.
The errors you identified are a pity but I think most of us realise 
everyone is under pressure to get more done in less time these days (I 
know I'm expected to perform three people's jobs at my place) but it 
does gives us an opportunity to validate our data and verify sources - 
all good ITA stuff.
Re the omission of reference by VCAA to the VITTA CD, wasn't the VCAA CD 
produced a while before the VITTA CD?

Cheers,
Charmaine Taylor
Sunbury Downs College

David Dawson wrote:

>As part of this ongoing discussion I would like to point out that the
>VCAA support CD for Implementing VCE IT has numerous factual and other
>errors including:
>- one website with incorrect title
>- authors incorrectly represented on resources with initials and name
>omissions (several instances)
>- incorrect publisher on at least one book
>- several books by major local publishers omitted
>- poor punctuation throughout the resources, with at least 8 "formatting
>and convention" errors
>- year consistently recorded after the author instead of at the end of
>the reference
>My understanding is that resources should be listed as such: 
>
>Fee, Elizabeth, and Daniel M. Fox, eds. AIDS: The Burdens of History.
>Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
>
>This does not occur anywhere under resources. If students were to make
>such errors on VCE essays they would be penalised. Please bring this to
>your student's attention.
>
>The CD also does not list any of the VITTA programming CDs as resources,
>so I assume that they feel these are not worthwhile - but I guess this
>is a decision that was made, not an oversight.
>
>People in glass houses ...... should proof-read and check resources on a
>resources CD.
>
>David Dawson
>
>
>
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