Authority

Whittaker has a bee in "his" bonnet about authority at the moment. Perennial stuff for the average academic, of course - but often a concern to college librarians, too. Undergraduates (and postgrads) take note!

• Is the document in your hand authoritative?
• How can you tell?
• What gives the author authority?
• What does "peer review" mean to you? Is it (as an author told me yesterday), just intellectual snobbery? Or does it count for something?

Whittaker will hunt out some relevant links to add to this posting - here's the first. Please do add your comments. Evaluating what you find - a one-page guide from the University of Tennessee Libraries