Favorite Web Sites: Writing Style Guides
The web sites featured this month have been critically evaluated and selected
by the IU Northwest librarians as well as a group of academic and public librarians
across the United States who compile a yearly Best
Free Reference Web Sites List for the American
Library Association . Here is a list of
selection
criteria initially created by the MARS Best Free Websites Task Force
to choose these sites. The Library hopes our readers will find these web
sites useful for locating reliable, accurate and authoritative information
on the Internet.
This well organized web site produced by librarians at Indiana University
Bloomington features online handouts on such topics as citing electronic sources
in MLA and APA style and evaluating traditional print and web information resources.
These documents are available in HTML, PDF and Microsoft Word formats. The web
page also provides valuable links to instructional resources from IU Bloomington's
Writing Tutorial Services web site. Some of these online documents include citing
sources in MLA and APA style, how to write a thesis statement, plagiarism, using
outlines, writing book reviews and creating resumes and cover letters.
NoodleTools combines NoodleBib, an interactive MLA-style bibliography
composer, and NoodleQuest, a multiple-choice template of questions to
develop appropriate search strategies for a research project. Another
section called NoodleLinks is a "database of academic bibliographies" that
appears to be in the formative stage and NoodleBoard is a group of forums
where users can ask questions and share ideas. NoodleBib has an extensive
list of citation types (31 items) including electronic formats. The NoodleQuest
form asks the user questions that address the type of information sought
and the level of the user's expertise. The user chooses the options and
obtains guidance as to where to start in a search for information on
the internet. NoodleQuest is a great tool for the novice or younger user
who needs help getting started on research and NoodleBib certainly simplifies
the process of creating a MLA-style bibliography. (Summary used with permission
of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
Online! provides citation styles for the total range of online information:
World Wide Web site, Email message, Web discussion forum posting, Listserv message,
Newsgroup message, Real-time communication, Telnet, FTP, and gopher sites. Detailed
descriptions and examples of each are given for MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style,
and CBE. The guide is quite helpful in defining distinctions between citing the
whole site versus citing one page or part of a site, citing personal versus professional
sites. The various types of web publications are clearly explained. This site
would be most useful for students of all ages working on papers that involve
the vast and varied elements of the online environment. (Summary used by permission
of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
The Sources web site was prepared for the instruction and use of Dartmouth
undergraduate students and is set up so that it can be used as a handbook
to consult when writing papers. The preface includes an excellent discussion
of why the student must cite sources, with clear examples of the different
kinds of plagiarism. Quotes from Dartmouth's Student Handbook make the
point even more clearly. The large "Examples" section demonstrates the
format for bibliographies and footnotes, following the APA, MLA and Science
citation styles, as well as MLA's note style. A bibliography of resources
is provided for those wishing to use other styles. There is a good alphabetical
site index as well as a table of contents. A FAQ section provides some
examples of special problems, such as works of art and computer programs.
It is important to note that electronic sources are well represented
in this very useful writing resource. (Summary used by
permission of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
Discover Word Origins With the Oxford English Dictionary Online
Due to an IU Libraries system-wide subscription, the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED) online version was recently added to the
IU Northwest Library's expanding electronic database collection.
The Oxford English Dictionary remains the world's leading
authority on the development and history of the English language.
According to its web site, the OED Online provides the
following features:
- Access to the 20 volume Second Edition and the three Addition
Series volumes, plus at least 1,800 new and revised entries
provided each quarter
- Entries can be displayed various ways (e.g. pronunciations,
variant spellings, etymologies and quotations)
- Words can be found by simple keyword or Boolean searching
- Search for quotations from a specific year, author and/or work
- Locate words that have come into English from another language
- Search pronunciations as well as accented and other special
characters
- Find first cited date, authors and works
- Perform case sensitive searches
- Compare revised entries with entries from the Second Edition
to see how the language has changed and how new scholarship has
expanded our cultural and linguistic heritage.
IU Northwest students, faculty and staff can access the OED Online
from any on campus computer or off campus through a VPN
connection by going to
dictionary.oed.com/entrance.dtl .
Academic Search Premier Recently Added to the Inspire Databases
Subscription
Over the summer, the IU Northwest Library upgraded Academic Search Elite
to Academic Search Premier. As one of the Inspire
databases offered through EBSCO, Academic Search Premier
offers indexing for over 8000 publications with nearly 4600 of those
titles available in full-text. Nearly 7000 journals included in this
database are peer reviewed with over 3500 of these in full text. PDF files
to 1975 or further are available for over 100 journals and searchable
cited references are offered for more than 1,000 titles. Moreover,
Academic Search Premier provides extensive full-text
coverage in chemistry, biology, education., humanities, physics,
psychology, sociology and ethnic studies.
IU Northwest students, faculty and staff can access Academic Search
Premier through IU Northwest campus computers or off campus via a VPN
connection. Just go to the IU Northwest Library's
Electronic Information Page
and select the All Databases Listed Alphabetically link under the
Electronic Resources heading. At the next screen, choose the
Inspire Databases link. At the next page, click the
EBSCOHost Web link. At the EBSCOHost main menu, select
Academic Search Premier or click the Continue button
since Academic Search Premier is the default database at
this menu.
, Library News Web Editor |
