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MLA9 Guide: Digital

A guide to citation using the MLA8 standards

Core Elements for Formatting

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Media

PowerPoint or Other Presentation Software
MLA 8 does not cover PowerPoint, use MLA 7 style, adjusted for MLA 8

Martin, Abby. “Poe’s Impact on Modern Poetry.” PowerPoint slides, 2016.  ENG 201: American Literature after 1865 Engage site, https://content2.learntoday.info/utica/course_files/ENG201

E-mail
Give the author of the message, followed by the subject line in quotation marks. State to whom message was sent with the phrase, “Received by” and recipient’s name. Include the date the message was sent. Use standardized capitalization.

Kunka, Andrew. "Re: Modernist Literature." Received by John Watts, 15 Nov. 2016.

Discussion Group, Blog Posting, Listserv
Cite web postings as you would a standard web entry. Include "screen" names as author names if author unknown. If both names are known, use brackets around author’s name. Date of access is expected.

Editor, "screen" name, author, or compiler name (as available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site, Version number (as applicabe), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), URL. Date of access.

Salmar1515 (Sal Hernandez). “Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2015, boardgamegeek.com/thread/343929/best-strategy-fenced-pastures-vs-max-number-rooms. Accessed 5 Apr. 2016.

Tweet
User's Twitter handle instead of actual author’s name. Place tweet itself entirely in quotes, close with period. Include date and time of posting, with the reader's time zone as appropriate; separate date and time with a comma and end with a period. Include the date accessed if needed. Capitalization is optional.

@tombrokaw. "SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign." Twitter, 22 Jan. 2012, 3:06 a.m., twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320.

@periwinkle32. "We have a report of street battles in east & west Aleppo." Twitter, 24 June 2016, 11:15 a.m. twitter.com/periwinke32/status/2298106702

YouTube and Streaming Video
Follow MLA "core elements" for documentary videos, audio files, Kanopy, etc. Include descriptive information as necessary to help readers understand the type and nature of the source. For Recommended for YouTube: if the author’s name is the same as the uploader; only cite the "author" once. If the author is different from the uploader, cite the author’s name before the title.

“8 Hot Dog Gadgets put to the Test.” YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Russian Hacker, 6 Jun. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBlpjSEtELs.

McGonigal, Jane. “Gaming and Productivity.” YouTube, uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E..

Web Sites & Pages: From Purdue OWL

Citing an Entire Web Site
Although Date Accessed is an optional element. it is advisable to list for many Web sources, since content is often updated, changed, or vanishes

Form: Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number, Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available), URL, DOI or permalink. Date of access (if applicable).

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 23 Apr. 2016.

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Murchison U, 28 Nov. 2003, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/. Accessed 10 May 20016.

Course or Department Websites
Give the instructor name. Then list the course title (or designation for the course) in italics. Give appropriate department and school names as well, as appropriate for your readersaudience, following the course title.

Felluga, Dino. Survey of the Literature of England. ENG 467,  Purdue U, Aug. 2006, web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/241/241/Home.html. Accessed 31 May 2016.

English Department. Core Requirements for Majors, Purdue U, 20 Apr. 2009, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/.

A Page from a Web Site
For an individual page, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire site. If the "publisher" is the same as the website name, only list this once.

"Athlete's Foot - Topic Overview." WebMD, 25 September 2014, www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/athletes-foot-topic-overview.

Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2016.

An Image (Including a painting, sculpture, or photograph)
Provide the artist's name, the work name if given italicized, created date, institution and city where housed, as known. Follow this initial entry with the name of the web site in italics, the medium of publication, and the date of access. Consult your instructor on preferred style details.

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Permanent Fine Collection, www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74. Accessed 22 May 2016.

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive, www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2016.

If the work is cited on the web only, then provide the artist, the title of work, medium or media, and use the MLA 8 format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username as the author. Consult your instructor on preferred style details.

Adams, Clifton R. “People relax beside a swimming pool at a country estate near Phoenix, Arizona, 1928.” Found, National Geographic Creative, 2 Jun. 2016, natgeofound.tumblr.com/.