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This is related to the recent question on the inclusion of images of pages in questions. The answer, which in my opinion was quite reasonable, is that the question should contain enough context to be understandable (and by extension, answerable) without the external content.

Should we assume the same policy ought to apply to answers that consist of nothing but "This is proven in this book, here's an image of the page"? E.g., this example?

Edit. The answer has been edited to remove the image. Nonetheless, is the consensus also that the same standards applied to questions in this regard should extend to answers?

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    $\begingroup$ Arturo, I believe we also have to address the issue of copyright infringement when the pages are bluntly taken out of a copyrighted book. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Mar 21, 2011 at 18:21
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    $\begingroup$ @Asaf: I believe almost any use of copyrighted material on this site would constitute "fair use" in the U.S. Of course, I'm not exactly sure what jurisdiction we're in! $\endgroup$
    – The Chaz 2.0
    Mar 21, 2011 at 19:56

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I would definitely assume this same policy applies to both questions and answers.

I can think of no reason it should not.

(Additionally, there is the additional concern of copyright infringement as correctly raised by Asaf, but that's really secondary to the external link problem -- questions and answers should generally be self-contained and complete first.)

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    $\begingroup$ It seems that the only thing one loses by posting image vs. text answers is the ability to search the text of the answer. So why not simply have the platform OCR the images and cache the text for search purposes? That might save many folks from serious RSI problems down the road. $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Jul 27, 2011 at 22:17

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