Citing Electronic Sources
All bibliographic references contain six basic elements:
- Name of the author
- Title of the work
- Place of publication
- Publisher's name
- Date of publication
- Location of the reference (i.e., page number)
When you create bibliographic references for e-sources, however, some of the above elements may need to be changed or modified. The following substitutions will generally be sufficient:
- Author's name = Log-in name or alias
- Title of work = File name
- Place of publication and name of publisher = Protocol/address
- Date of publication = Date of access
Also, keep in mind that on the WWW everything is one page, hence it is not necessary to note pagination for e-sources.
Here is a model for a typical bibliographic reference of an e-source (scientific style, APA/CBE):
Author's last name followed by his/her initials. Indent the following: Date of document or date accessed, Title of document and, if available, title of complete work (in italics), Version or file number, editor or revision, Protocal and address; access path or directories, Date of access (in parentheses)
Example:
Burka, Lauren P. "A Hypertext History of Multi-User Dimensions." MUD History. 1993. http://www.utopia.com/talent/lpb/muddex/essay (2 Aug. 1996).
For more examples of bibliographic entries referencing the WWW, Email, Discussion lists, Newsgroups, Online reference sources, Electronic publications, Online databases, Gopher protocols, File transfer protocols, telnet protocols, Software programs, and Video games, click here
