There
are two widely accepted styles for citing references. They are American Psychological Association, known as APA, and
Modern Language Association, known as MLA.
After reviewing the available websites on the two styles I selected the
MLA style for use in my class. The
students in my class are required to write research-based papers and it is
therefore important for them to use the proper format when citing references. Of the websites I reviewed, I found The
Write Source to recommend to my students as a resource.
I
chose this site because it specifically addresses electronic references. It is interesting from both a visual and
content perspective. It provides a
brief overview of the MLA style. It is
organized according to types of references to be cited. Each category contains a clear example of
how to properly cite each specific type of electronic reference. Citing electronic references is frequently
intimidating because not all of the information is available. This site quickly puts the reader at rest by
letting them know if the information is not available, such as author, they do
not need to include it. It also
provides answers to questions like how to break up the URL if it does not fit on
a continuous line.
________________________________________________
Four examples of
Internet citations using the MLA format are:
Salwen, Peter.”The
Quotable Mark Twain”, [Online], 3 June 2005
< http://salwen.com/mtquotes.html >.
United States
Government. Central Intelligence Agency. “The World Factbook: Afghanistan.”
[Online]. 17 May 2005, 3 June 2005
< http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html
>.
Nascar, 2003 Winston Cup
Series Drivers, [Online] 3 June 2005
< http://www.nascar.com/drivers/list/wc/dps/
>.
McKenzie, Jamie, “Building
Good New Ideas.” From Now On Vol.10. Issue 9 (2001), 3 June 2005