"So you're saying it can be OK for someone to use a lyric sheet -- as long as they're singing their own compositions or nobody's listening?   Otherwise what they're doing is sub-par?"
Nope - nothing like it.
I said that the general acceptance of crib-sheets in public is another step on the road to dumbing down.
"I'll bet "Anon" and that "Trad" guy don't give a hoot."
Oddly enough I never met a source singer of any age who felt the need for a book (we've had The Copper's view on the subject).
If it's a case of giving ground to performers who can't hold a tune, won't put in the necessary work to learn the text, finds folk songs and ballads boring, and don't know if the songs they sing are folk or not - I'd rather rage against the dying of the light - if you don't mind.
Jim Carroll