Randy on the ethics of the reference:

iBLOGthere4iM:"When you link to a source, it's like a handshake, a thank you for the info. The source blogger in turn is likely to catch the referrer in his logs or thru Technorati. He then reads your blog and maybe he likes something you say and he links back to you. Giving credit is often a better play than claiming an idea as your own, particularly in the blogosphere. Give credit where it's due and link to your sources."

I agree heartily. The blogosphere is a conversation, & we all benefit when we send readers back to the places that inspired our posts. I would also like to extend this a little & suggest that we reference a blog by site-name, or an author by name, please. These little [via] links that crop up places seem cursory & don't share the buzz with the same force that an explicit & named link would.

Link back, name names, share the love!!