Citing Internet Sources:

 

Of the four sites I examined, I’d have to say that Write Source at http://www.thewritesource.com/mla.htm is the best website to use as a teacher for my students.  I have several reasons for making this choice.  I believe the MLA system discussed here to be the best choice since most middle and high school students across America use it.  So it would be advisable for me to stay in line with what many other teachers are doing.  Write Source discusses the use of MLA in an easily understood manner.  The site provides examples that students will find applicable for the many versions of online source materials they may encounter.  There is even an easy to read guide describing each element of the citation.  I especially found the sections showing how to cite Discussion Lists, On-Line Computer Services, and On-Line Scholarly Projects helpful.  Since the Internet has made it possible for many texts to be placed online, students will come across many research sources that are not just reproductions of books, magazines, and journal articles.  A student can only benefit from having a site that shows how to cite as many different sources as possible.  This site seems to have the best variety of online sources that may have to be cited by students in their research projects.  Finally, this site seems to be laid out in a manner that most students will find easy to understand and work with.

 

Below are four examples of online sources as they would be cited using the MLA format.

 

1.      http://salwen.com/mtquotes.html

 

Salwen, Peter.  “The Quotable Mark Twain.”  Peter Salwen’s Mark Twain Page.  1996-2000.  Salwen Business Communications.  17 Nov. 2003  <http://salwen.com/mtquotes.html>

 

2.      http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html

 

United States.  Central Intelligence Agency.  Afghanistan: 2003.  August, 2003.  17 Nov. 2003 

<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html>

 

3.      http://www.nascar.com/DRIVERS/winston/KHarvick00/index.html

 

“2003 Winston Cup Series Drivers.”  Nascar.com.  2003.  NASCAR.  17 Nov. 2003

<http://www.nascar.com/DRIVERS/winston/Kharvick00/index.html>

 

4.      http://fno.org/jun01/building.html

 

McKenzie, Jamie.  “Building Good New Ideas.”  On-Line posting.  Fno.org.  Vol. 10, No. 9.  June 2001.  From Now On: The Educational Technology Journal.  17 Nov. 2003

<http://fno.org/jun01/building.html>