Paraphrasing Text -Worked example
Paraphrasing is re-presenting information in your own words.
In the best examples paraphrasing will synthesize understanding, and present new insights which will assist the reader in their understanding of the topic area.
The example below attempts to paraphrase the original two texts.
It is not yet possible to classify Web 2.0, although we can say that Web 2.0 systems do encourage interaction, and they foster communities through participation and open standards. Web 2.0 companies tend to offer services rather than packaged software, they control data sources that get richer as more people use them in order to harness the wisdom of crowds, they leverage the long tail, and have lightweight user interfaces/models and agile business models.
This is a breach of academic integrity. The text differs little from the original source. A few words have been changed, no substantial insight has been provided. Because the original source has not been acknowledged, it will be treated as an example of plagiarism.
The next example rewords the two texts to some extent and acknowledges the sources
AIthough is not yet possible to classify Web 2.0, we can say that Web 2.0 systems do encourage interaction, and they foster communities through participation and open standards [1]. Web 2.0 companies tend to offer services rather than packaged software, they control data sources that get richer as more people use them in order to harness the wisdom of crowds, they leverage the long tail, and have lightweight user interfaces/models and agile business models [2].
[1] Millard, D. and Ross, M. (2006) Web 2.0: Hypertext by Any Other Name?. In Proceedings of ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia 2006, Odense, Denmark. [2] Tim O’Reilly, What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software, Published by the author 09/30/2005,http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-… (accessed Oct 2006)The example above represents the information. It does not offer any additional insights for the reader.
The final (best) example adds a narrative which explains to the reader how the writer understands the the two different perspectives.
Millard and Ross argue that it is not yet possible to fully classify Web 2.0, although they say that Web 2.0 systems do encourage interaction, and foster communities through participation and open standards [1]. O’Reilly does attempt such a classification, but by focusing on the commercial characteristics of Web 2.0. He suggests that Web 2.0 companies tend to offer services rather than packaged software, control data sources that get richer as more people use them in order to harness the wisdom of crowds, leverage the long tail, and have lightweight user interfaces/models and agile business models [2].
[1] Millard, D. and Ross, M. (2006) Web 2.0: Hypertext by Any Other Name?. In Proceedings of ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia 2006, Odense, Denmark. [2] Tim O’Reilly, What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software, Published by the author 09/30/2005,http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html (accessed Oct 2006)The example above provides the writer’s perspective as well as explicitly acknowledging the original authors by citing the two sources.
Paraphrasing text in an insightful manner requires the writer to reflect.
It takes time to write good prose, because it takes time to think about what you are saying and to present other people’s work in a new and insightful manner.
The examples above have been used in teaching by Dr Dave Millard from ECS, University of Southampton.