CCAC: Library: Understanding Electronic Resources for MLA Introduction/Overview

Style Guide: Understanding Electronic Resources for MLA
Introduction/Overview

Any resource you access via a computer is an electronic resource. But not all electronic resources are the same. The citation requirements for different types of resources are different.

Library online reference sources, subscription services, and CD-ROMs:

Resources the library pays for to provide good quality research materials, e.g. EBSCOhost.
Material often originally published in books, magazines, or journals.
Information you need for citing the material is usually complete and easy to locate.
Sometimes provides citation information: Look for a link to the citation or search Help. Caution: The citation information provided may not be in correct MLA format.

Online reference sources provide material similar to what can be found in a reference book. Some of the online reference sources available at CCAC are:

AccessScience
African-American History and Culture
American Indian History and Culture Encyclopedia
American Women's History
Britannica Online
Columbia-Granger World of Poetry
CQ Researcher
Facts.com
Issues and Controversies
Literature Resource Center
Opposing Viewpoints

Subscription services provide magazine or journal articles and other types of material through a common gateway. Subscription services may provide access to several different databases. Subscription services available at CCAC are:

EBSCOhost (Provides access to MasterFILE Premier, Academic Search Premier, and other databases)
Gale Net's Literature Resource Center (Provides access to literary criticism journals)

CD-ROMs contain information in a fixed format, unlike online resources that can be updated and are subject to change. At CCAC CD-ROMS must be viewed on specific computers on campus. They are not available online.

Web sites:

Usually provided for free.
Quality of material varies. Most web sites are not suitable for research.
Material is usually created for the site and does not exist in another format.
BUT…Sometimes web sites provide material originally published in books, magazines, journals, or as pamphlets, reports, and other self-contained documents.
Information you need for citing the material may be incomplete and hard to locate.

Parts of a citation for an electronic resource

: Author. “Title of the Document.” Information about print publication. Information about electronic publication. Access information.

Which can be divided into two sections:

What is it?:

: Author. “Title of the Document.” Information about print publication.

How did you get it?

: Information about electronic publication. Access information.

Example: Magazine article from a subscription service such as EBSCOhost:

Kulman, Linda. “He’s not Gun-Shy.” U.S. News and World Report 6 
     Oct. 2003: 19. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. CCAC Library, 
     Pittsburgh, PA. 8 Dec. 2003 <http://search.epnet.com>.

What is it? Magazine article:

Author: Kulman, Linda.

Title of document: “He’s not Gun-Shy.”

Information about print publication:

: U.S. News and World Report -- Title of the magazine; 6 Oct. 2003: -- Date the article appeared in print; 19. -- Page number. The article is one page or less in length.

How did you get it? From a Library subscription service:

Information about electronic publication:

: MasterFILE Premier. -- Database name; EBSCO. -- Name of subscription service

Where did you get it?

Access information:

: CCAC Library, Pittsburgh, PA. -- Library providing the subscription service.; 8 Dec. 2003 -- Date service was accessed.; <http://search.epnet.com>. -- URL

Not all parts will always be needed

Information for a part may not be available

"Quotation Marks" and Underlining: Which do I use?

Put the "Title of the Part" in quotes:

: "Title of an article from a magazine"; "Title of an article from a journal"; "Title of an essay in a book"; "Title of an article in an encyclopedia or other reference source"; "Title of an article on a web site"

Underline the Title of the Whole (The thing that contains the part):

: Title of a magazine; Title of a journal; Title of a book; Title of an encyclopedia or other reference source; Title of a web site; Title of a pamphlet

What about italics?

: In printed documents, italics are the same thing as underlining. Check with your instructor about which to use.

What is it?: How can I tell what the original print resource is?

By the information provided in the electronic resource. See the expanded examples in the next section.

Magazine and journal articles: look for these clues:: Volume number; Issue number; Date that includes the month and possibly the day as well as the year; Page numbers
Magazines vs Journals: How can I tell the difference?
Books: look for these clues:: Place of publication; Name of publisher; Date that is only the year; The absence of volume, issue and page numbers

Expanded examples.

For additional examples, see Citing: MLA: Electronic Sources:: Professional Web Site; Report, Pamphlet, or other Print Document from a Web Site; Magazine Article from a Subscription Service such as EBSCOhost: Masterfile Premier; Journal Article from a Subscription Service such as EBSCOhost: Academic Search Premier; Article from an Online Reference Source; Article in an Online Reference Source Originally Published in a Book; Reprinted Article in an Online Reference Source