Citing Online Sources

Citing online sources is similar to citing printed books, journals, or magazines, but requires adding additional information.  This guide will help you format your citations for articles found in online databases, electronic books, and websites. 

For articles in databases, in addition to the standard information (author, article name, journal name, volume and pages), you also need to provide the name of the database, the date you accessed the information, the library that provided access, and the electronic address (or URL) of the database.   You will find the URL for each database in smaller type at the end of its description on the Online Databases page.  See this example taken from that page: 

Business Source Premier  (Indexing 1988-, Full text 1990-)

Provides full text 2,260 scholarly business journals covering management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and much more.
http://search.epnet.com/login.asp?profile=bsp

Here are generic templates, followed by specific examples for articles, encyclopedia entries, e-books, and websites.  Please note spacing, punctuation, and indenting (5 spaces at the beginning of every line but the first).  Keep in mind that you may not be able to determine all elements for your electronic source, but the goal in citing is to clearly identify your source so that others may locate it.  You may need to find similar examples and modify them for your particular source.  You can find more examples at James D. Lester's Citing Cyberspace: MLA Citations.

If you need additional help, please ask a librarian.

Generic Templates:

• Articles:
  Author's last name, first name.  "Article title."  Journal or 
           magazine title.  Volume, issue, or number and pages.  
           Name of database.  Library, city, and state (if the library 
           is a subscriber).  Date accessed.  <URL of database's 
           main page>
  
  

• Encyclopedia entries:
  "Entry name."  Name of Encyclopedia.  Date of Internet 
            publication (if known).  Date of access.  <URL>.
  
  

• E-Books:
  Author's last name, first name.  Name of Book. Date of 
            publication.  Date of access.  <URL>.  
  
  

• Websites:
  Author's last name, first name.  Document title (if no title, use 
            the phrase Home page).  Institution or agency sponsoring 
            the site (if known). Date of Internet publication (if 
            known).  Date of access <URL>.

Journal Article:

Magazine Article: 

Uríbarri, Fátima.  "Harry Potter Engancha a 35 Millones de Lectores:
         Hechizados por la Lectura."  Epoca.  10 Dec. 2000: 70. 
         Informe.  E.P.C.C. Libraries, El Paso, TX.  11 Apr. 2001. 
          <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb?db=IFME>

Newspaper Article:

Encyclopedia entry:

Electronic Book:

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Henry Churchyard.  1966.
         10 Sept. 2000 <http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/pridprej.html>.

Article from Website:

"Ten Hispanic Educators Win $25,000 Milken National Educator
          Awards"  Hispanic Online.com.  2001. 11 Jul. 2001. 
          <http://www.hispaniconline.com/edu&/pages/milken_award.html>

Website:

McNaron, Toni and Miller, Carol (eds).  Voices from the Gaps: Women 
          Writers of Color.  July 2001.  University of Minnesota.  11 Jul. 2001.
          <http://voices.cla.umn.edu/index.html> 

Any other questions?

If you have further questions, please ask a librarian at any campus Reference Desk:

Valle Verde Campus (915) 831-2442 
Transmountain Campus (915) 831-5098
Rio Grande Campus (915) 831-4019
Mission del Paso Campus (915) 831-7040
Northwest Campus (915) 831-8840

or consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers available at any branch.