Bards Old Time Fiddle Tunebook Supplement/BOTFT Manual of Style


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n this field, in accordance with the Ethnography of Fiddle Local Manual of Style, videographers, amateur or professional, are considered to be documentarians and thus secondary sources just as Allan Lomax or other professionally trained ethnomusicologists. Of course, their commentary may merge into authentic primary source to the extent they lack what has been called distanciation by literary critics or would be called professional distance by anthropologists or other trained professional observers. Thus, use of these sources might be controversial in projects such as our sister project Wikipedia, but Wikiversity, with which WikiBooks is closely affiliated, explicitly rejects the Wikipedia emphasis on secondary sources and thus the debate is moot. Please note that although this content is open source, it might be subject to controversy or deletion if transferred to Wikipedia.
 * Use of video and "original" analysis of video clips is permissible


 * Relevant policy on Original Research

"In practice, however, Wikibooks takes a permissive stance by allowing specific types of contributions that, strictly speaking, could be considered original research. This practice allows for the fact that Wikibooks might be the first place that certain knowledge is put into print. Moreover, authors may add content based on repeatable information from their personal experiences or from common knowledge they have "off the top of their heads." When adding unsourced information to Wikibooks, though, remember to avoid content that isn't well supported in subject literature, or that other contributors might reasonably disagree with unless you are prepared to defend."


 * Respect for indigenous traditions is appropriate

This is not Wikipedia. Although we adhere to neutral point of view, a slavish adherence is not appropriate. This WikiBook follows professional standards of the field of ethnography and ethnomusicology which is consistent with Wikiversity's standard. WikiBooks strive for textbook quality and thus embrace academic standards; this means that "neutrality" as practiced here rejects points of view such as pseudoscience or Eurocentric chauvinism which suggests that the monoculture of Western Civilization as taught in the 1950's is superior and the only culture of interest. That is taken for granted in the field of Ethnomusicology and Ethnography except perhaps for fringe elements who are by definition not "neutral" even if, perhaps, in some ways they might be "more correct". This book is NPOV within the scope of ethnographic studies, and parties who do not concur might wish to develop a new book expressing dissent from mainstream ethnic studies, which would probably be acceptable within WikiBooks but would not be acceptable for this book, which is not intended as a radical critique of mainstream ethnomusicological standards.