Citing Electronic Resources

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Electronic sources present new challenges to those attempting to cite them. There is the common dilemma: which style do I use? MLA? APA? Add to this the fact that the traditional styles may not address all possible situations. And on top of that, new sources continue to develop CD-ROM, gopher, the World Wide Web, e-journals, real-time communication and on and on. Because electronic sources do not lend themselves to the guidelines developed for print sources, new ways to cite new sources continue to be developed and revised.

Online Style Guides

The World Wide Web can be a good place to find guidance as you write your research paper and compile a list of sources you have consulted. These sites may be of help:

The MLA Web site includes minimal style guidelines for electronic resources: http://www.mla.org/publications/style/style_faq/style_faq4/
Harnack and Kleppinger have adapted MLA, APA and other style guidelines to use with electronic sources: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html
The Internet Public Library has links to several other electronic citation styles: http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/netciteFARQ.html

Check to see which style your professor wants you to use. If you decide to create your own citation style, keep a couple of things in mind. Remember the purpose of a citation is to give credit where it is due and to enable the reader to find the source. Give as much information possible and base your format on print source guidelines if they are available, and be consistent.

Style manuals available at Thomas Library

APA. Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Ed.
Ref. Desk BF 76.7 .P83 2001
Ref. BF 76,7 .P83 2001
Main Stacks BF 76.7 .P83 2001

Gibaldi, MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, Second Ed.
Ref. PN 147 .G444 1998

Li and Crane, Electronic Style, Second Ed.
Ref. Desk PN 171 .F56 L5 1996

Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, Sixth Ed.
Ref. Desk LB 2369 .T8 1996
Ref. LB 2369 .T8 1996

Walker and Taylor, The Columbia guide to online style.
Ref. Desk PN 171. F56 W35 1998

Citation elements to consider including

author's name

date of publication

type of medium

title of document

URL, telnet address, e-mail address

edition, volume, issue & title of work

date of access

See examples of Electronic Resource Citations

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