Friday, July 06, 2007

Citation correctness

I just finished reading an article in Searcher about citations and how correct citation formats seem to be a lost art. The author, Nicholas Tomaiuolo (Instruction Librarian, Central Connecticut State University), discusses common mistakes and problems with MLA and APA citation formats, then points out several web tools to assist with generating correct citations.

I took the challenge. I ran his article through the tools mentioned (KnightCite and NoodleBib Express) and came up with these results:

Tomaiuolo, Nicholas. "Citations and Aberrations." SEARCHER: The Magazine for Database Professionals June 2007: 17-24.

MLA style as formed by KnightCite - http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/index.php
Note: no way to pick June/July, would have to edit by hand.

Tomaiuolo, Nicholas. "Citations and Aberrations." SEARCHER: The Magazine for Database Professionals June 2007: 17-24.

MLA style as formed by NoodleBib Express from NoodleTools - http://www.noodletools.com/index.html
Note: no way to pick June/July, would have to edit by hand.

So, it looks like the actual correct MLA style cite for his article should be:

Tomaiuolo, Nicholas. "Citations and Aberrations." SEARCHER: The Magazine for Database Professionals June/July 2007: 17-24.

I wonder when someone will come up with a Bluebook or Greenbook web citation formatter?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I certainly wish they would.

I am suffering through a legal research class now and if they had the "greenbook" and/or the "bluebook" completely on line ( or make them available to us on a CD-ROM for a REASONABLE fee), it would be greatly appreciated!


Thank you for your keen insight and quick wit concerning this topic!