[CALIBK12] MLA changes in new edition

[THERESA ROBARDS]

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:46:15 -0700
From: "Stanley, Deborah" <dstanley at rusd.k12.ca.us>
Subject: [CALIBK12] MLA Citation changes--IMPORTANT
To: <calibk12 at listproc.sjsu.edu>
Cc: Deborah Stanley <debstanley550 at mac.com>
Message-ID:
    <0F25E95D83528249A4EB95263677AD6403CDA14A at exc-67-server02.rusd.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hello CAlibbers;

           I'm sending a BIG "Thanks" to the teacher librarian in my
district who alerted me to the very important changes in MLA citations
style and formatting. The quoted section below is from "MLA Update 2009"
from the "OWL at Purdue" Web site:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/15. 

           I cannot yet find online samples from the new MLA Style
Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, third edition, 2008, so I'll
be buying the book ASAP. It can be ordered from
http://www.mla.org./PID341, 

           The critical ramifications: All the citation forms in
previous presentation handouts are now OBSOLETE! As soon as I have the
new MLA style manual in my hands, I'll work on the re-writes and send
them out. Mostly it's a matter of items being added, but see the list
below for a few examples of changes. 

           Anecdote regarding citations: This morning I had not one but
two teachers, one Science and one Language Arts, catch me in the hallway
with citation questions. The Language Arts teacher is preparing her
students for CST testing and is using our library handouts and materials
to complete the mandated 7th grade research. The book work is over and
they're ready for the computer lab. I filled her in on the MLA citation
changes, and we arrived at a way to continue the lesson without having
the final accurate forms. But I was SO excited that she asked! This is
key advocacy for the connection between library teaching and student
achievement. The Science teacher had a question about her students
completing the "Work Cited" portion of their library researched unit
projects. Be still my heart! Only other TLs will fully appreciate having
your teachers ask citation questions so their students can learn. 

                                   Deb Stanley, 

Teacher Librarian

Central MS, Riverside USD

*   No More Underlining! Underlining is no more. MLA now recommends
italicizing titles of independently published works (books, periodicals,
films, etc). 
*   No More URLs! While website entries will still include authors,
article names, and website names, when available, MLA no longer requires
URLs. Writers are, however, encouraged to provide a URL if the citation
information does not lead readers to easily find the source. 
*   Continuous Pagination? Who Cares? You no longer have to worry
about whether scholarly publications employ continuous pagination or
not. For all such entries, both volume and issue numbers are required,
regardless of pagination. 
*   Publication Medium. Every entry receives a medium of publication
marker. Most entries will be listed as Print or Web, but other
possibilities include Performance, DVD, or TV. Most of these markers
will appear at the end of entries; however, markers for Web sources are
followed by the date of access. 
*   New Abbreviations. Many web source entries now require a
publisher name, a date of publication, and/or page numbers. When no
publisher name appears on the website, write N.p. for no publisher
given. When sites omit a date of publication, write n.d. for no date.
For online journals that appear only online (no print version) or on
databases that do not provide pagination, write n. pag. for no
pagination.