Welcome to the Mildred H. McEvoy Library

Is the Item Online?

Blog: Entries are in reverse chronological order.

Journal: Contains scholarly articles with abstracts and references (e.g., footnotes, parenthetical references, citations). Most articles are evaluated by experts in the same field in order to be accepted for publication (“peer reviewed”). The author's tone is serious and s/he uses words and ideas that are understood by experts but might be harder for a general reader to follow. The print layout may include graphs and charts, but few photos, pictures and ads. Often published by an academic or professional organization, the goal of a journal is to advance knowledge or publish research findings in a scholarly discipline, not make money for the author or publication.

Magazine: Vary widely in topic, tone, and authority. They tend to include eye-catching pictures, color, and ads. The goal of a magazine is to sell itself by attracting, informing and entertaining general readers.

Newsletter: A shorter publication with stories about one main topic, written for a group of people with a common interest.

Newspaper: Published daily or weekly in print and online and contains breaking news, investigative reports, photographs, and/or videos. It may also contain ads, reviews, editorials, letters to the editor, cartoons, weather, etc.

Web Site: Online source of any length or language. Use a Search engine (Google, Yahoo, Baidu) in your Web browser (Firefox, Safari, Chrome) to view Web sites. Web sites may be one page or a collection of Web pages and may be in different formats, such as PowerPoint slides (.ppt), an Adobe flash file (.swf), an Adobe document (.PDF), Hypertext markup (.htm, .html), Google Doc or Word (.docx), or Prezi, Slideshare, etc.

Photo or Image (Born Digital): it was created (e.g. digital camera, computer screen capture program, desktop scanner) in digital form for the Web or you do not know where the image itself (not the place or object in it) is physically stored

Photo or Illustration: A photograph or illustration in hand, or for which print/physical location information (e.g., a library archive) is provided.

Work of Visual Art: A photograph housed in a museum or art collection, or a photograph of a work of art (where you are documenting the original artwork).

Map, Chart, Table or Infographic: A map, chart, or similar type of image, where it is important to document the specific type of image.

Historical Work in an Archive: Primary source documents and other materials are often housed in physical archives or manuscript collections or they may be scanned and available through a site like American Memory. They include: historical manuscripts or papers; unpublished letters, memos or other correspondence; maps or charts; and print photos or Illustrations.

Interview: Choose this option if you conducted the interview. If not, you are citing a transcript of the interview in a book or on a Web site or an interview broadcast on television/radio or archived as an online video or online audio recording. If so, choose “Interview,” then see the Similar/Related Choices in the dropdown list.

Are You Holding the Item in Your Hand? 

Book: A book may be fiction or nonfiction. It is written to be read from beginning to end and may be in print or electronic (eBooks).

Anthology/Collection: A book with chapters by different authors or the collected work (essays, poems, short stories) of a single author.

Pamphlet or Brochure: A single-topic short publication with subheadings rather than chapters. It may be in print or a .pdf online.

Reference Source: A book in print or online designed to be consulted for specific facts or background rather than to be read all the way through, such as almanacs, atlases, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, gazetteers, and yearbooks.

Journal: Contains scholarly articles with abstracts and references (e.g., footnotes, parenthetical references, citations). Most articles are evaluated by experts in the same field in order to be accepted for publication (“peer reviewed”). The author's tone is serious and s/he uses words and ideas that are understood by experts but might be harder for a general reader to follow. The print layout may include graphs and charts, but few photos, pictures and ads. Often published by an academic or professional organization, the goal of a journal is to advance knowledge or publish research findings in a scholarly discipline, not make money for the author or publication.

Magazine: Vary widely in topic, tone, and authority. They tend to include eye-catching pictures, color, and ads. The goal of a magazine is to sell itself by attracting, informing and entertaining general readers.

Newsletter: A shorter publication with stories about one main topic, written for a group of people with a common interest.

Newspaper: Published daily or weekly in print and online and contains breaking news, investigative reports, photographs, and/or videos. It may also contain ads, reviews, editorials, letters to the editor, cartoons, weather, etc.

Religious Work: A classical work like the Bibleor Quran.

Textbook: Cite as a Book.

You can handle this one of three ways:

1. You can use whatever is indicated as the author ("Editorial Board," for example) as your author. Example from MLA: 

Editorial Board. “How to Tell Truth from Fiction in the Age of Fake News.” Chicago Tribune, 21 Nov. 2016, www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-fake-news-facebook-edit-1120-md-20161118-story.html.

2. You can refer to the piece as an editorial in the text of your paper.

3. You can include “Editorial” as an optional element at the end of the citation. Example from MLA:

“It’s Subpoena Time.” The New York Times, late ed., 8 June 2007, p. A28. Editorial.