Citing Common Electronic Online Sources

1.  Online Book

The typical entry for a complete online book available in print consists of the following items:

• Author's name (if given). If only an editor, a compiler or a translator is identified, cite that person's name, followed by the appropriate abbreviation (ed., comp., trans.)
• Title of the work (underlined)
• Name of the editor, compiler, or translator (if relevant)
• Publication information. If the version of the text online has not been published before, give the date of electronic publication and the name of any sponsoring institution or organization. State the publication facts about the original print version if they are given in the source (e.g., city of publication, name of publisher, year of publication). You may add in brackets relevant information not stated in the source
• Date of access and network address

(If you cannot find some of the information above, cite what is available.)

Examples:

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

     Boston, 1845. 30 Jan. 1997 <gopher:// gopher.vt.edu: 10010/

       02/73/1>.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Writings of

     Mark Twain. Vol. 13. New York: Harper, 1991. Wiretap.spies.

     13 Jan. 1996 < http://www.sci.dixie.edu/DixieCollege/Ebooks/

     huckfinn.html>.

2.  Online Book Within a Scholarly Project

To cite a book that is part of a scholarly project, give the five items listed above, as relevant, but follow the information about the printed book with the publication information for the project. End with URL of the book, not the project.

Example:

Keats, John. Poetical Works. 1884. Project Bartleby. Ed. Steven van

     Leeuwen. May 1998. Columbia U. 5 May 1998 <http://

     www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/keats/>.

3.  Online Government Publication

To cite an online government publication, begin with the same facts given for printed government works (see English handbook) and conclude with information appropriate to the electronic source.

Example:

United States. Dept. of Justice. Natl. Inst. Of Justice. Prosecuting

     Gangs: A National Assessment. By Claire Johnson,

     Barbara Webster, and Edward Connors. Feb. 1995. 29 June

     1998 <http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/pgang.txt>.

US Census Bureau. "Census Bureau Begins Releasing Census 2000

    Maps for Redistricting."  By Cathy McCully.  US Dept. of Commerce News.

     26 January 2001. 2 February 2001.

     http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01cn02.html>.

4.  A Professional or Personal Site

Begin with the name of the person who created the site (if given and relevant), reversed for alphabetizing and followed by a period. Continue with the title of the site (underlined) or, if there is no title, with a description such as Home page (neither underlined nor in quotation marks); the name of any institution or organization associated with the site; the date of access; and the network address.

Examples:

"National Basketball Association."  Home Page.  2002.  14 July
     2002.  <http://www.nba.com>.

Salwen, Peter. "Is Huck Finn a Racist Book?" Peter Salwen's

     Mark Twain Page. 20 Oct. 2000. 31 July 2002.

     <http://salwen.com/mtrace.html>.

Swofford, Jennifer. The Complete Guide to Keeping Green Iguanas in

     Captivity. 28 July 1995. 10 Aug. 2002 andlt;http://www.

     baskingspot.com/iguanas/igbookmenu.html.

Walsh, David.  "Helping Children Cope with War and Terrorism."

     National Institute on Media and the Family. 2002.  15 August 

     2002. <http://www.mediaandthefamily.org/family/

     helpingkiscope.shtml>.

5.  Document Within A Scholarly Project or Information
     Database

To cite an article, a poem, a short story or similar short work within a project or database, begin the citation with the author's name and, in quotation marks, the title of the work. If no author is given, begin the citation with the title of the material, in quotation marks. Continue with the relevant information for the project or database, the date of access, and the URL; be sure to give the URL of the specific work or document rather than that of the project or database if they are different.

Examples:

     Encyclopedia Britannica. 8 May 1998 <http://www.eb.com:180>.

6. An Article in an Online Periodical

Periodical publications online include scholarly journals, newspapers, and magazines; works and other materials within such publications include articles, reviews, editorials, and letters to the editor. Follow recommendations for citing parts of print periodicals as given in an English handbook, modifying them as appropriate to the electronic source. A typical entry for a work in an online periodical consists of the following items:

• Author's name (if given)
• Title of the work or material (a review or letter to the editor may be untitled), in quotation marks
• Name of the periodical (underlined)
• Volume number, issue number, or other identifying number
• Date of publication
• The number range or total number of pages, paragraphs, or other sections, if they are numbered
• Date of access and network address (URL)

(If you cannot find some of this information, cite what is available.)

Jaroff, Leon.  "The Circular Logic of 'Signs'."  Time.Com  15  August

     2002.   16 August 2002.  <http://www.time.com/time/

     columnist/jaroff/article>.

Markoff, John. "The Voice on the Phone Is Not Human, But It's

     Helpful." New York Times on the Web 21 June 1998. 25 June

     1998 <http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/

     biztech/articles/21voice.html>.

Sohmer. Steve. "12 June 1599: Opening Day at Shakespeare's

     Globe. " Early Modern Literary Studies 3.1 (1997): 46 pars. 26

     June 1998 <http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/emls/

     03-1/sohmjuli.html>.

Tiemann, Claus-Peter.  "Fresh Floods Wreaking Havoc on Europe." 

     The Orlando Sentinel.  15 August 2002. <http://www.orlando-

     sentinel.com/news/nationworld/snsfloods>.

Weiser, Jay. "The Tyranny of Informality." New Republic 26 Feb.

     1996. 1 Mar. 1996 <http://www.enews.com/magazines/

     tnr/current/022696.3.html>.

Did you know?

SLM campus library has an extensive collection of DVD's, videotapes, CD's, CD-books, audio-books, and MP3 PlayAway books.