As you work through your team research skills assignment, you may want to search or browse the recommended databases in this list.
Style guides, such as the MLA Handbook, set out to create a standardized format for documenting sources used in a paper. The intent is to make it easier for other readers and scholars to quickly locate the referenced material. With the proliferation of so many different types of information sources now--YouTube videos, Tweets, blogs and comments on blogs, in addition to more traditional sources such as books and journal articles--the Modern Language Association (MLA) with the 8th edition of its handbook focuses more on guiding principles rather than an exhaustive list of rules for each kind of information source. Those guiding principles are listed below:
The basic structure of a citation will be as follows:
Author. Title of source. Title of container. Other contributors. Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
If your entry is longer than a single line, all lines after the first one should be indented (which I can't show well on this page).
Below are some examples provided in the Handbook for some of the sources you'll be using in this assignment.
An article in a journal, newspaper, or magazine
Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.
Belton, John. "Painting by the Numbers: The Digital Intermediate." Film Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 3, Spring 2008, pp. 58-65.
An article from a newspaper in a database or digital collection
Craik, James, and Elisha C. Dick. “Treatment of General Washington in his Sickness.” Raleigh Register, vol 1., no. 13, 14 Jan. 1800. Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, https://link-gale-com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/apps/doc/GT3012643299/NCNP?u=avl_auburnu&sid=NCNP&xid=dcf3f480. Accessed 5 Oct. 2020.
A book
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Vintage Books, 1995.
A book that is available online
Gikandi, Simon. Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Cambridget UP, 2000. ACLS Humanities E-book, hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.07588.0001.001.
An essay, a story, or a poem in a collection
Dewar, James A., and Peng Hwa Ang. “The Cultural Consequences of Printing and the Internet.” Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, edited by Sabrina Alcorn Baron et al., U of Massachusetts P / Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 2007, pp. 365-77.
Ephemera from a database or digital collection
Lewis, Mrs. W. L. “Freeda’s Sweet Sixteen Party.” Menu, Seating Arrangements, etc., 15 Apr. 1965. Memo. African American Communities, http://www.africanamericancommunities.amdigital.co.uk.spot.lib.auburn.edu/Documents/Details/ahc_MSS_0468_0003_0010_0001_0001. Access 5 Oct. 2020.