Why teach bibliographic citations? The accountability that bibliographic citations of electronic sources imposes on the student is vital to responsible and critical use of these sources. By being held responsible for the source of the material used, students need to evaluate and assess the quality of the material. I think this is one of the most valuable skills that students and adults alike can learn when using any sources including electronic ones. Students aren't critical information consumers - "if it's on the Internet then it's OK." By using citations and by teachers and librarians asking them to evaluate these sources, they learn to question and become aware of the value of the information as well as the source.
The Modern Language Association of America, an association of teachers and scholars founded in 1883, has been publishing a style book for writers for almost fifty years. The Fourth Edition was updated to include citations for electronic sources. Of major concern to the MLA of America was the transitory nature of electronic data. A file accessed today can be gone or changed by tomorrow. In citing electronic sources, the MLA stresses the importance of the date of access and that as much information as possible be given to locate or credit the version used. Because there is no infrastructure in place to archive, monitor, and index electronic sources, more information must be provided in a citation than normally provided for print sources.
The following series of slides was prepared as a synopsis of the Modern Language Association's bibliographic recommendations. It was presented to librarians and teachers as an aid in teaching the use of bibliographic citations with computerized or on-line sources. The recommendation is that each teacher or librarian use these guidelines and prepare sample citations that relate to the work being done or the sources readily available or often accessed.
Original Publication information then microform information.
Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Periodical Title Date: page(s). Microform Title: Subtitle Volume number (Year): Fiche number, Grids.
Chapman, Dan. "Panel Could Help Protect Children." Winston-Salem Journal 14 Jan. 1990: 14. Newsbank: Welfare and Social Problems 12 (1990): fiche 1, grids A8- 11.
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.
Printed Source: 1. Name of the author (if given) 2. Publication information for the printed source 3. Title of the database (underlined) 4. Publication medium (CD-ROM) 5. Name of the vendor (if relevant) 6. Electronic publication date
Non-printed Source: 1. Name of the author (if given) 2. Title of the material accessed (in quotation marks) 3. Date of the material (if given) 4. Title of the database (underlined) 5. Publication medium (CD-ROM) 6. Name of the vendor (if relevant) 7. Electronic publication date
Cite what is available if part of the information is missing.
1. Name of the author (if given) 2. Title of the part of the work, if relevant (underline or in quotation marks) 3. Title of the product (underlined) 4. Edition, release, or version (if relevant) 5. Publication medium (CD-ROM) 6. City of publication 7. Name of the publisher 8. Year of the publication
"Bronte, Emily." Discovering Authors. Vers. 1.0. CD-ROM. Detroit: Gale, 1992.
The CIA World Factbook. CD-ROM. Minneapolis: Quanta, 1992.
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.
1. Name of the author (if given) 2. Title of the part of the work, if relevant (underline or in quotation marks) 3. Title of the product (underlined) 4. Edition, release, or version (if relevant) 5. Publication medium (Diskette) 6. City of publication 7. Name of the publisher 8. Year of the publication
"Nuclear Medicine Technologist." Guidance Information System. 17th ed. Diskette. Cambridge: Riverside-Houghton, 1992.
Alpha Four. Vers. 3.0. Diskette. Burlington: Alpha, 1993.
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.
Include: • Publication medium (Online) • Name of computer service or network Dialog, CompuServe, America Online, Nexis, Dow Jones News Retrieval, etc.
• Date of access
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.
Cite the same as a non-periodical CD-ROM product, but add the media which constitutes the product.
Franking, Holly. Negative Space: A Computerized Video Novel. Vers. 1.0. CD-ROM, videocassette. Prairie Village: Diskotech, 1990.
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995
¨
Electronic journals, Electronic texts newsletters, and conferences
1. Name of author (if given) 1. Name of author (if given) 2. Title of the article or document (in " ") 2. Title of the text (Underlined) 3. Title of the journal, newsletter, etc. 3. Publication information for the (underlined) printed source 4. Volume, issue, etc. number 4. Publication medium (Online) 5. Year or date of publication (in ( )) 5. Name or the repository of the 6. Number of pages or paragraphs (if given) electronic text or n. page. if not given (e.g., Oxford Text Archive) 6. Name of the computer network 7. Publication medium (Online) 7. Date of access 8. Name of the computer network 9. Date of access
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995
Alston, Robin. "The Battle of the Books." Humanist 7.0176 (10 Sept. 1993): 10 pp. Online. Internet. 10 Oct. 1993.
Steele, Ken. "Special Discounts on the New Variorum Shakespeare." Shaksper 2.124 (4 May 1991): n. page. Online. BITNET. 1 June 1991.
Hardy, Thomas. Far from the Madding Crowd. Ed. Ronald Blythe. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978. Online. Oxford Text Archive. Internet. 24 Jan. 1994.
Octovian. Ed. Frances McSparran. Early English Text Soc. 289. London: Oxford UP, 1986. Online. U. of Virginia Lib. Internet. 6 Apr. 1994.
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995
¨ Material with publishing information for a printed source. ¨ Material without a specific print counterpart.
Angier, Natalie. "Chemists Learn Why Vegetables Are Good for You." New York Times 13 Apr. 1993, late ed.: Cl. New York Times Online. Online. Nexis. 10 Feb. 1994.
Glicken. Morley D. "A Five-Sept Plan to Renew Your Creativity." National Business Employment Weekly. Online. Dow Jones News Retrieval. 10 Nov. 1992.
"Foreign Weather: European Cities." Accu-Data. Online. Dow Jones New Retrieval. 20 Aug. 1993.
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995
Danford, Tom. "Monday Greetings." E-mail to Terry Craig. 13 Sept. 1995.
Lancashire, Ian. E-mail to the author. 1 Mar. 1995.
Author's name. "Title of the document." Date when posted. Online posting. Location where posting found. Network name. Date of access.
Shuman, Thomas Michael. "Re: Technical German." 5 Aug. 1994. Usenet. 7 Sept. 1994.
Ernades, Ken. "STS-64 Rev 138 Vector." 18 Sept. 1994. Online posting. Space Flight Forum, Space Shuttle Section. CompuServe. 28 Sept. 1994.
Source: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fourth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995