NEWS FLASH! There is a NEW EDITON of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which we will be using, starting this fall at the seminary.  This seventh edition can be purchased at the Modern Language Association’s website: http://www.mla.org/style_faq1

There have been some noticeable changes in the citation style, so we advise that you buy this edition.  One new feature is that, with the purchase of the 7th edition, you get a code for accessing the accompanying website, which provides a lot of supplemental material.

NOTE: many resources you may have been using in the past to help you format your citations may not have been updated yet.  So proceed with care, and compare the information you have, with the new handbook.

We will be revising our handouts to help you adjust to the revisions in citation style.

Listed below are a few academic websites with MLA information, only ONE of which has been partially updated:

PURDUE UNINVERSITY:  MLA Formatting and Style Guide
This site has lots of good material on it on research and writing.  They have partially updated their MLA section.

CAPITAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE: A Writer’s Practical Guide to MLA Documentation
This site gives general advice, but has NOT been updated as of August ’09.

LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY: MLA Citation Style
This site has a helpful color-coded system, but has NOT been updated as of August ’09.

More Resources To Help You Build Your Works Cited List:

WEBSITES

Both these sites will format citations for you when the source is straightforward.  (For complicated or tricky citations, always consult your trusted librarian!)  Both these sites seem to have incorporated the new features of MLA 7th edition:

Easybib: www.easybib.com
Free website that will format citations if you fill in a template.  They also offer a slightly more elaborate paid service for very
reasonable prices.

CitationMachine:  www.citationmachine.net
This site also formats for you, but maybe not as well as easybib. However, it will show you the parenthetical citation for free. 
(easybib makes you pay for that.) 

SOFTWARE

RefWorks: www.refworks.com/
An online software package that you can pay for annually – many nice features, including formatting of your Works Cited.

Endnote: www.endnote.com/
You can buy software that does an excellent job of formatting works cited, etc.  It is expensive ($300?) This is a prominent brand.

Hint: if you invest in this software, you will be able to export information from certain websites right into your software in order to produce citations.  Example: worldcat.org has that feature. Once you are looking at a record for a particular book, you can click on “export,” and the information will be fed into your RefWorks or Endnote program.