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| So many books, so little time! |
Lately, I’ve been wondering about police procedures in little towns. I met a detective from the Allen, Texas police department who was an acting chief for the department in the little North Texas town of Whitewright. She explained several things about her department.
If I were to incorporate her information into a research paper or an article, I would need to cite the
presentation that I got to see, giving credit to her for her expertise. In a Bibliography, the citation of our discussion would look like this:
Whitworth, Doris, Det; Allen Police Department. What's it Like to be a Modern Policewoman. DFW
Ready Writers Meeting. La Hacienda Ranch-Grapevine, Texas: 12 Nov. 2011. Lecture.
Speakerlast, first. “title if there is one.” Subject matter if no title. Title of Group
and Organization. Location: date. Conversation. (or Reading, Address, Lecture.)
Here's another example from a writing class:
Clubine, Marji. "Creating
Citations." Prep & Precision. Enrichment Classes of Carrollton: 13 Jan.
2012. Lecture.
Now doing citations for books is pretty easy. There are only a few changes in details with multiple authors, volumes, or publication dates. The general rule for entries includes the author's name, book title, city of publication, publisher, and copyright date.
(Hanging indent) Authorlast,
Authorfirst. Title of Book.
CityofPub: Publisher – full name, copyright date –
latest. Series title
if the book is part of one. Print. (To identify type of publication.)
Whatabout,
Marcus. I Know What You’re Trying To Do.
Boston: Macmillan and Post, 2012. Living in the Suburbs. Print.
Magazine articles also have prescribed formats for their listings. It also starts with the author, but that is followed by the article title in quotations. Then the periodical title and date follows and the page numbers where the article can be found.
Whereabout,
Matthew. “Secrets and Sources.” Spy Magazine 15 Jan. 2012: 47-49. Print.
Whichabout,
Marybelle. “The Country’s Best Cooking Shows.” Food and Family Life 27 Nov.
2011: 15-16. Print.
An encyclopedia or dictionary entry is like it:
“King, Martin
Luther, Jr.” World Book Encyclopedia. 1999 ed. Print.
In the same way, the things found on the internet would also require citation. For instance, I found several sites that described the differences between the ranks of peerage in modern England and during the Medieval period. To correctly cite a website, it would look like this in a Bibliography: (Author, Title of Article, Site, URL - which isn't always required - and date of visit.)
Author, editor,
or compiler namelast, namefirst. “Title of article.” Title of Website. Date of publication.
Web. Date of access (Day,
Month, Year). Probably on note cards, you would want to cite the URL,
but it isn't required in the Bibliography.
Laine, Marji. “Learning
Through Failure.” Marji Laine:
Faith-Driven Fiction. 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Jan.
2012.
Movies and television shows can also be cited. Especially with today's technology, the ease of retracing steps to examine data and gain more makes listing sources imperative.
TV Show:
“Title of
Episode.” Title of Series. Network.
Broadcast date. Television (or Radio).
“In the Process
of Time.” Popodopolassy. ABC. 6 Sept. 2011.
Television.
Movie:
Title of Movie. Dir. Firstname
Lastname. (Leads) May add main performers, producer, screenwriter. Distributer,
production date year. Film.
It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank
Capra. Perf. James Stweart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. RKO, 1946. Film.
(Listing the
performers is a good way to identify a particular movie that has been made over
many times.)
Being sure to not infringe on copyrights isn't difficult if credit is being given. As long as the creative work isn't marketed, usually citations are all that are needed, but be sure. Before using anything digitally, make sure to contact the creator and check to see if it is available for use.
All citations made with guidance from MLA Handbook. I highly recommend the book if researching is in your future!
