Please be aware that the suggestions for citing electronic resources given here are not for any official style but are for a generic unofficial format. You should always check with your professors to determine the preferred citation style for your classes.

First, ask yourself these questions:

• How did I find this material? On a database like ASAP, Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe, or EbscoHost? Or did I search the Web using AltaVista, Google, Lycos, Yahoo, or another search tool?
• If I found it by searching the Web is it good enough to use?

Almost all citations for books include the following information. The order in which you present the information may vary with the citation style you're using, but these elements will probably be present:

• Author
• Title of the book
• Publisher
• Place of publication
• Date of publication
• Page numbers

• Author
• Title of the article
• Title of the journal
• Volume and issue number of the journal
• Date of publication
• Page numbers

When you site Web resources of any kind, you'll need to add at least these three important things to the information in your citations:

• URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for the material
• Date you viewed the material
• Number of paragraphs. This can be tricky because Web formatting can make paragraphs difficult to distinguish. Make an honest effort. Even though you might not need this number in your bibliography or works cited list, you will need to refer to paragraph numbers when you use parenthetical citations, endnotes, or footnotes.

Web Pages

In some ways, citations to Web pages parallel those for books, with a few additions.

A reasonable generic citation to a web page might look like this:

Author. Title [Online]. Sponsoring organization or publisher: date published or updated. Available: URL. (Date of visit). Number of paragraphs.

For example:

Grassian, Esther. Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources [Online]. UCLA College Library: September 6, 2000. Available: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm. (May 23, 2001).

You might want to include the total number of paragraphs only when it's reasonable to count them. Remember though, that you will need to know a paragraph number when making a parenthetical citation, a footnote, or an endnote.

Electronic Books

The Seeley G. Mudd Library's catalog, LUCIA, includes direct connections to electronic books made available via NetLibrary and other sources. Citations to electronic books follow the general format for books in the citation style you are using, with the addition of the URL for the source and the date you viewed the book.

A reasonable generic citation to an electronic book might look like this:

Author. Title [Online]. Publisher: date published. Database name. Available: URL. (Date of visit).

For example:

Miller, Michael. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Search Secrets [Online]. Indianapolis, IN: Macmillan, 1999. NetLibrary. Available: http://www.netlibrary.com. (May 23, 2001).

Electronic Articles

In a similar way, citations to electronic full-text of articles parallel citations to traditional paper publications, again with a few additions.

A reasonable generic citation to an electronic journal article might look like this:

Author. "Title." Magazine or complete work title [Online]. Journal volume (Journal date): Pages. Database name. Available: Database URL. (Date of visit). Number of paragraphs.

For example, a citation to an article from an electronic journal published on the Web might look like this:

Endo, Paul. "Seeing Romantically in Lamia." ELH: English Literary History [Online]. 66 (Spring 1999): 111-128. Project Muse. Available: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals. (April 26, 1999). 36 para.

A citation to an article from a full-text database might look like this:

Minkel, Walter. "The Trouble with Citing Sites." School Library Journal [Online]. 46 (July 2000): 27. EbscoHost. Available: http://search.epnet.com. (May 23, 2001). 8 para.

In cases where the entire page range of the original paper publication is not noted, you should indicate that the article is more than a page long by using the plus sign. For example, an article that is several pages long and starts on page 19 would have the page numbering noted as 19+ because the first page number of the original print article is noted, but not the last, and this article was clearly several pages long.

As mentioned above, although you might not want to count all the paragraphs for your bibliography or works cited list, you will need to know paragraph numbers when making a parenthetical citation, a footnote, or an endnote.

Specific Styles

American Anthropological Association

The AAA Style Guide gives essential information on capitalization and usage as well as the preferred citation format for Internet resources.

American Psychological Association

The Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association includes information on how to cite e-mail, Web sites, and other electronic information.

Modern Language Association

Brief information on MLA Style for the Web and Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style

Books on Citation . . .

All titles noted have at least some information on citing electronic resources. Be sure to check the index in the back of these for specific pages. Even when they don't give the specifics of citing Web resources, they can be consulted as a guide to arranging and punctuating the basic elements of an electronic citation. For more guides, see A Guide to Academic Citation and Writing or search LUCIA, the library's online catalog.

The ACS Style Guide : A Manual for Authors and Editors American Chemical Society.

Ref. QD8.5 .A25 1997

The Chicago Manual of Style.

Ref. Z253 .U69 1993

The Columbia Guide to Online Style. Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor.

Ready Ref. PN171.F56 W35 1998

Electronic Styles : A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information. Xia Li and Nancy B. Crane.

Ref. PN171.F56 L5 1996

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Kate L. Turabian.

Ref. LB2369 .T8 1996

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Joseph Gibaldi.

Ready Ref. LB2369 .G53 1999

Online! : The Internet Guide for Students and Writers. Andrew Harnack.

Ref. TK5105.875.I57 H365 1997
Supplementary material for this book is also available on the Web from the publisher, Bedford / St. Martin's

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Ref. BF76.7 .P83 2001

Scientific Style and Format : The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. Style Manual Committee, Council of Biology Editors.

Ref. T11 .S386 1994

A Writer's Reference. Diana Hacker.

Ref. PE1408 .H2778 1998

Web Pages on Citation . . .

Basic CGOS Style.

Excerpted from the Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor.

Citing Electronic Sources

From The Learning Page at the Library of Congress American Memory Project . Includes tips on citing films, documents, maps, and more.

The Internet Public Library: Citing Electronic Resources

A nice list of recommended guides.

Library and Information Science: Citation Guides for Electronic Documents.

From IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Lots of sites on cites.

On-line Resources for Documenting Electronic Sources

From the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.

What is Plagiarism?

One of a series of pamphlets available from the Lawrence Writing Lab at Lawrence's Center for Teaching and Learning.