: [Maths-Education] Being outdated

[Richard Barwell]

It depends what we think references are for. Reflection on referencing 
practices suggests to me that references may be used to:

.show how much I've read
.show how up-to-date I am
.show how much I've written
.show how much my colleagues or friends have written
.point to important relevant bodies of work (theories/methodological 
approaches/findings)
.credit sources of inspiration
.credit sources of particular terms
.make my writing look more academic
.show that I've read the work of the editor/contributors/conference to 
whom the work is submitted
.show that I'm part of a particular academic community

Of course some of these may overlap. Does anyone have any others?

Richard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard Barwell
Graduate School of Education
University of Bristol
35 Berkeley Square
Bristol, BS8 1JA, UK
+44 (0)117 928 7003