Attribution of a File Shared on the ‘Net

I came across this lovely link that referred to an excessively simple Excel spreadsheet for a budget (via HotLinks). It is a nice, functional spreadsheet that auto-calculates your profit and liabilities for the month. That said, it would take all of two minutes to create (perhaps even less).

I am a die-hard proponent of attribution for all "other"-derived information, but the author's sourcing as:

Unknown Author. “Monthly Budget Spreadsheet Template”. Source unknown.
The spreadsheet linked in this article is a modified version of an excel file that was downloaded from the web some time ago, whose source could not be found as of this writing.

seems a little overdone and unnecessary. I think that if the file or idea borrowed from the web is:

1. Simple as Hell and/or
2. builds upon basic principles with a result that could be reached independently

you do not need to cite the source in detail. You can state that you did not create it, but it is not as if this file uses privileged or confidential information in an innovative manner. It is four formulas on a sheet called "sheet 1" for God's sake.

I think a better attribution would have been simply "this useful budget spreadsheet was found on the internet," or "the author of this helpful document is lost to the sands of time."

All this said, I opened the file and was struck by its simplicity. I thought, "If I were to create a similar document, the simple, intuitive design would be muddied by my added flourish of unnecessary complexity."

Technorati Tags: excel, attribution, parsimony, file-sharing

~ by wingnut2600 on May 26, 2006.