Throw out the MLA Handbook and toss out the Strunk’s Elements of Style, because citation has entered the digital age. All right, so just put the books on the shelves (they’re still pretty useful), and citation has been in the digital age for a while, but the Citation Machine makes creating MLA and APA style citations a quick, and relatively painless process.
Developed by the Landmark Project, the Citation Machine provides guides and tools for creating citations for both print and electronic sources. You’ll find tools for citing everything from the standard book to online forum posting (yes, there’s even a proper way to cite the random musings or profound discussions found on a forum). In fact, the Citation Machine stands apart from its printed counterparts due to its electronic nature; as new forms of communication develop everyday on the Internet (new forms that your students may be quickly savvy in), using an electronic tool to properly cite electronic media means that it can adapt more quickly than a printed resource.
Since proper documentation isn’t something that the average student is doing on a daily basis and most students don’t usually have style manuals tucked away in their lockers or at home on the bookshelf, this is an excellent way for anyone with a computer to create proper citations. Quite handy for the English and Composition teachers I would imagine, but equally important to other subject areas as writing is shared across the curriculum.
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Here’s another resource for this:
BibBuilder
He’s got a few little tips on the pages that I like, but the Citation Machine is one I’ll have to keep in my bookmarks for next school year.
I was impressed with the Citation Machine because it was heavy on electronic sources. Forum postings, recordings, and subscription databases are something I never had to use when I was inschool, but many students are currently using now for resources.
I’ll add the BibBuilder to the Links section, it looks like a nice quick way to document as well.