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Hope Library Guides

Peer Assisted Learning: Hope College Sample Training Exercises: Exercise #7

This is a sample of the training exercises designed for the first year of our new training scheme. The first semester the exercises were housed almost exclusively within the LibGuide. The second semester we began migrating content into our Content Manag

Citations!

Questions about citations frequently cross our desk, because the precise formatting and specific rules often confuse and intimidate students, particularly when they have to move between styles.  We would like you to be comfortable with the basics of citations in the three major styles common at Hope.  As citation questions get more complex, please do refer to a librarian, if possible, because there are a lot of little rules to dig into at times, as well as some interpretation involved.

The three styles common at Hope are: MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian.  Occasionally we will get questions about another style, like CSE or ACS, but these are rarer.  Keeps us posted if you are seeing other styles come up more frequently, so that we can provide more resources. (Science majors, especially, let me know if this is inaccurate).

For a quick reference for basic citations in each style, we have created a printed reference.  This is located on the top ready reference shelf.  (note: this is a first draft, so please give Jessica feedback on ways to make this any better!)

If the item they are citing is more complex than these examples, the next step would be to consult a basic guide in print or online.  The Hacker A Writer's Reference is a good place to start, as well as the online PurdueOWL (also listed on the citing sources page).

If these tools don't provide the answer, then you can move to the specific print style guide for each style (at this point, you might want to have a librarian involved).  These are all in ready reference.

MLA Handbook

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)

A Manual for Writers (Turabian) / Chicago Manual of Style / Chicago Manual of Style Online

Tips

  1. Start with the source! - Make sure that you and the student are clear about the type of source you are working with (book, journal article, website, newspaper article, etc).  This is going to make a big difference in how the citation is formatted, so figure this out first before you go looking for a citation model.
  2. Find a good model - Find a model/example for creating the citation you need.  If you don't find a good one on the quick reference, consult the Hacker or PurdueOWL table of contents for your style to see if you can find a description of what you need and use that to navigate to the example you need.
  3. Talk through each part of the citation - Creating citations is even more confusing if you don't know what the basic elements are.  Not all students understand things like volume and issue numbers, publisher information, website sponsors, the difference between article title and publication title, etc, so walk them through the process of identifying these for their sources so that they can hopefully feel more confident doing this in the future.  If you are unsure of any of these things yourself, ask a librarian!
  4. Can't I just use a citation generator/engine? - Citation generators like EasyBib and KnightCite can be very helpful citation tools, and it is fine to use them.  Warning! It is important to remember that the generator will not think for you.  If you put the wrong information into a box or leave out something critical, then the generator will create an incorrect citation.  The same thing goes for using "pre-fill" options that some generators offer.  You aren't guaranteed that the generator is accurate in the citation information it is providing (particularly for websites), so you always need to double check this.  A good way to check is to hold the generated citation up to a model to make sure it looks right.
  5. What about the citations you find in databases?  They're from the library, so they're accurate, right? Unfortunately not.  These citations can be a good starting place, but you will still want to check them against a model, to confirm that they are accurate.

Exercise #7

For each of the following resources, create a citation in the style requested.  Create these in a Word doc, and email them to your mentor.

Important - For this exercise, please create these citations from scratch.  Don't use a citation generator or pre-created citation from a database.  I want you to practice putting the elements of citation in place yourself so that you are more comfortable and confident with this, even when you are using tools like generators to help you.

DUE, Friday, October 23rd

Resource #1 - in MLA 

Resource #2 - in Chicago, for Bibliography

Resource #3 - in APA

Resource #4 - in MLA 

Resource #5 - in APA 

Resource #6 - in Chicago/Turabian, for footnote 

Resource #7 - in MLA 

Resource #8 - in Chicago, for bibliography

Resource #9 - in APA - I've updated this to a different resource, since the other link was down.

Resource #10 - in MLA