SLM: 521

Richard McFarland

October 8, 2001

Citing Internet Resources

Elective 1 (from the Instruction Category)

“MLA Style.” Thewritesource.com. 20 Jan. 2005. The Write Source. 8 Oct. 2005

http://www.thewritesource.com/MLA.HTM.

The site that I would instruct my high school students to use as a reference for citing web resources when doing online research is the Write Source site titled Electronic Sources MLA Style. I have chosen this site because I consider it to be more clearly written and user friendly than the other sites offered.

The site begins with an introduction of the Modern Language Association (MLA) style. The site then gives important guidelines for printouts of citations which tell a student to begin a citation flush with the left margin; then indent additional lines five spaces; double-space between lines, etc. These guidelines explain the format of a MLA citation which is vital information for a student to write a correct citation. The next section, In-Text Citations explains the correct way to cite an internet source in a paper. It tells a student to cite the author’s name when possible. This section includes the important point that the primary purpose of an in-text citation is to direct the reader to the correct entry on the “Works Cited” page. The section Elements of On-Line Entry lists the order items should appear in an MLA citation. The list is excellent because it clearly shows students how to organize their citation. An important note within this section states that if items do not apply or are not available, do not include them. The rest of the site provides 12 sample citations for different sources with important notes included where needed. These sample citations are excellent examples for students to compare their own citations to. One very important note informs students to always break a Web address after a slash if it is too long for a page line. I believe that the way this site is organized from the MLA description, to the On-Line Entry list, to the sample citations makes it very student user friendly.

One additional benefit of this site is the APA Style link under the green Research button on the front page. If a teacher wanted to introduce students to the American Psychological Association (APA) style for citing web resources, the teacher could direct them to the APA link which when opened is presented in the same format as the MLA Style page. Students could print copies of each style, review them side by side and easily compare the differences. If students were directed to cite sources using the APA Style they would have the APA Style page as an excellent resource.

Additional website citations on page 2.

The following websites are cited using the MLA Citation format.

Salwen, Peter. “The Quotable Mark Twain.” Salwen.com. 20 May 1996.

Salwen Business Communications. 9 Oct. 2005 http://salwen.com/mtquotes.html

“Afganistan.”. CIA-The World Factbook. 20 September 2005. CIA.gov. 9 Oct. 2005

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

“NASCAR.com.Drivers.” 2005. NASCAR.com. 9 Oct. 2005

http://www.nascar.com/drivers/list/wc/dps/

McKenzie, Jamie. “Building Good Ideas.” From Now On: The Educational Technology

Journal. Vol. 10. No. 9. (June 2001). Fno.org. 9 Oct. 2005

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