It's not as easy to cite web resources in your bibliography as it is to cite books, because standards for citing web resources are still being developed, and web resources don't have a title page where you can easily locate the information needed for a reference.

This guide tries to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about citing Web resources. Included on this page discussion of the MLA and APA Styles, as well as some websites with even more examples. For information on how to interpret different citations simply click on the citiation example:

• Book Citation
• Magazine Citation
• Journal Citation
• Newspaper Citation
• Government Document Citation
• Article in a Book Citation
• Internet Citation

COMPONENTS

These components should be included in a reference to a web resource.

Author

• If author information is not listed at the top of a document, check the bottom or follow any links to the web site's home page to search for author information.
• Try to distinguish the author of the content from the page designer and avoid listing the designer as an author.
• Remember that organizations or government agencies can be authors.
• If no author is listed, begin the reference with the title.

• If you have trouble identifying the title, check the top left corner of the Netscape browser. The title of the document should appear there, above the File menu. It also appears in the top left corner of a Netscape printout.

• The date a Web document was created or last updated is frequently listed at the bottom.
• If a document includes both a date of creation and a date it was last updated, use only the latter.
• Include a day and month in addition to a year if they are included on the document.

• In Netscape, the URL or address of a Web document is located near the top of the screen in the box labelled "Netsite."
• The URL appears in the upper right corner of a Netscape printout.

• Because Web documents can change or disappear at any time, your reference must include the date that you looked at the document.
• The date of use appears in the bottom right corner of a Netscape printout.

Multi-Document Web Resources

If a Web resource is comprised of multiple documents (i.e., you cannot see the entire content by using the scroll bar on the right side of the screen), include only one entry for it in your bibliography. Use the information from the main or "home" page.

Formats In MLA Style, the components are arranged this way:

Author. Title. Date of publication. Date of Access <URL>.

Example of MLA Style (Please note: The link listed is not valid - it's just an example!)

Stump, Ken, and Dave Batker. Sinking Fast: How Factory Trawlers Are Destroying U.S. Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems. Aug. 1996. 6 Nov 1997 <http://www.greenpeace.org/~usa/reports/biodiversity/sinking fast/>

In APA Style, the components are arranged this way:

Author. (Date of publication). Title. Retrieved date of access from the World Wide Web: URL.

Example of APA Style:

Stump, K., & Batker, D. (1996, August). Sinking fast: how factory trawlers are destroying U.S. fisheries and marine ecosystems. Retrieved November 6, 1997 from the World Wide Web: http://www.greenpeace.org/~usa /reports/biodiversity/sinking_fast/.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more detailed information and examples or for information on citing e-mail, bulletin board postings, online journal articles, etc, consult the following resources and Web sites: 

Ref PN 171 .F56 L5 1996 (Norco & Moreno Valley & Riverside Campus Libraries) 
Electronic Styles: A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information (2nd ed.) by Xia Li and Nancy B. Crane.

PN171 .F56 W35 1998 (Riverside Campus, Main Stacks; Moreno Valley Campus Reference)
Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor. Excerpts are available on the Web.

Karla's Guide to Citation Style Guides -Nicely annotated page of links to various styles for citing electronic, & other sources

Citation Styles for Electronic Information Sources

MLA Style

Ref LB 2639 .G53 1999 (Norco, Moreno Valley & Riverside Reference & Reserve)    
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (5th ed.). A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on MLA Documentation  

APA Style

Ref BF 76.7 .P83 (Riverside, Norco & Moreno Valley)   Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association by the American Psychological Association. A citation is a reference to a source of information. A citation typically includes enough identifying information, such as the author, title, and source, for a reader to be able to locate a copy of the item. 

Example: 

Bolgiano, Chris. Mountain Lion: An Unnatural History of Pumas and People. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1995. 

CITATION TYPES

The following are examples of the most common types of sources students find in bibliographies and in databases. Each of the citations listed below is given in MLA style. 

Book Citation

Note: Check the LAMP Online Catalog by author or title to determine whether the LLRC (Library & Learning Resource Center) owns this book.

Magazine Article Citation

Note: To determine whether the LLRC (Library & Learning Resource Center) owns a magazine, check the LAMP Online Catalog by doing a Periodical Title Search for the magazine title, not the title of the article. 

Journal Article Citation

Note: To determine whether the LLRC (Library & Learning Resource Center) owns a journal, check the LAMP Online Catalog by doing a Periodical Title Search for the journal title, not the title of the article.

Newspaper Article Citation

Government Document Citation

Article in a Book

Internet Source Citation