violet blue has a detailed and highly relevant on the ethics of blogger ethics, link courtesy and credit, link theft, and updating your post.
Here’s the section on linking and link theft:
Linking and link theft: Always cite your sources. (example: theurl.com, via placeIfoundit *link to the place you found it*) Here is an example. Purpousely avoid linking to, or thanking sites that snag links without credit from you and other blogs, and don’t source their links on a regular basis. People new to blogging or ambivalent about the way information is shared among bloggers think no one will notice if they just steal links from everyone — they are wrong. Lots of people find links by simply stumbling across strange websites on Google or get sent things from friends, but often you’ll find something on a blog or site and you’ll want to display the courtesy of acknowledging them with a link. If someone blogs a link and you re-post it, you have to tell people where you found it. Here is an example of this courtesy. When someone posts a link that just appeared on another blog, it looks suspicious — and people see these things when they happen, especially other bloggers. If you post a link and it was already somewhere else and someone brings it to your attention, update your post with an ‘also seen at’. Here is an example. Follow up on your links after you post them: Geocities and smaller image hosts will go down, so keep an eye on your links after you post them as a service to your readers. You have created a resource, even if it’s a simple post.
Read the entire post here.
Gallery Carre
