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Library update: Recent database changes

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Citation Guides

A guide to citing sources, including how to use the most commonly used citation styles (APA, MLA, and Chicago).

Reference Examples

Note: proper MLA format requires a "hanging indent" of one-half inch for each citation in your "Works Cited" list.

Book (One to Two Authors)

Davis, Angela Y. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude ‘Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. Pantheon, 1998.

Costello, Brandon and Qiana J. Whitted. Comics and the U.S. South. UP of Mississippi, 2012.

Book (Three or More Authors) Charon, Rita, et al. The Principles and Practice of Narrative Medicine. Oxford UP, 2017.
Journal Article in Print Spoth, Daniel. "Slow Violence and the (Post)Southern Disaster Narrative in Hurston, Faulkner, and Beasts of the Southern Wild." Mississippi Quarterly, vol. 68, nos. 1-2, Winter-Spring 2015, pp. 145-166.
Journal Article in an Online Database

Atkinson, Ted. "Faulkner on the Mississippi: Popular Currents of Realism in If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem." Southern Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 3, Spring 2015, pp. 46-62. Humanities International Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=109276901&site=eds-live.

Note: Use the "Permalink" in the database record, and delete the proxy information (login.proxy.msstate.edu, etc.) and the "http://" or "https://" from the beginning of the link. If a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is provided, use that instead.

Anderson, David. "Consuming Memories: Food and Childhood in Postbellum Plantation Memoirs and Reminiscences." Food, Culture & Society, vol. 20, no. 3, Sept. 2017, pp. 443-461. SocINDEX with Full Text, doi:10.1080/15528014.2017.1288800.ds-live.

A Book Chapter or a Work in an Anthology (includes Literary Criticism Series, Current Controversies, Opposing Viewpoints, and other Undergraduate Research Center materials)

Hannah, Barry. "Testimony of Pilot." Mississippi Writers: Reflections of Childhood and Youth, edited by Dorothy Abbott, UP of Mississippi, 1985, pp. 275-298.

“A Witchcraft Story.” The Hopi Way: Tales from a Vanishing Culture, compiled by Mando Sevillano, Northland, 1986, pp. 33-42.

Comic Book or Graphic Novel (authors, illustrators have equal role) Superman: Birthright. By Marc Waid, illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, inked by Gerry Alanguilan, colored by Dave McCaig, DC Comics, 2005.
Article or Web Page on a Web Site “William Faulkner: Biographical.” The Nobel Prize, Nobel Media AB, 2020, nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1949/faulkner/facts/.  Accessed 10 Jan 2020.
YouTube Video “2016 MLA-Prize-Winning Publications.” YouTube, uploaded by ModernLanguageAssoc, 18 Jan. 2017, permalink.
Podcast "A Blinking Light Up on the Mountain." Welcome to Night Vale, 15 Sept. 2013, play.radiopublic.com/welcome-to-night-vale-3GZp96.

Tweet

[@msu_libraries]. "We are so #HailState proud of @Dak and @HailStateWBK for their big wins at the @ESPYS tonight! Congratulations!" Twitter, 12 July 2017, 7:42 p.m., twitter.com/msu_libraries/status/885298292032237568.

Television Show on Streaming Platform “I, Borg.” Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 5, episode 23, Paramount Pictures, 1992. Netflix, www.netflix.com
Generative Text AI (ChatGPT, Bard, etc.) "Debate the ethics of Trent Crimm revealing his anonymous source to Ted in the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso" prompt. ChatGPT, 24 May version, OpenAI, 28 June 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

Additional Online Information

In 2016 the Modern Language Association released its latest update. Below are some of the changes according to the website linked below. 

Core Elements

Each entry in the list of works cited is composed of facts common to most works—the MLA core elements. They are assembled in a specific order.

  • Author.
  • Title of source.
  • Title of container,
  • Other contributors,
  • Version,
  • Number,
  • Publisher,
  • Publication date,
  • Location.

Containers

The concept of containers is crucial to MLA style. When the source being documented forms part of a larger whole, the larger whole can be thought of as a container that holds the source. For example, a short story may be contained in an anthology. The short story is the source, and the anthology is the container. Reminder: a stand-alone source, such as a print book or a film on disc or tape, is both source and container.

Other "source/container" relationships may include:

  • An article in a journal
  • A journal article in a database
  • A chapter in an edited book
  • A video on a website