Columbia High School

As you must later DOCUMENT (give formal credit to) everything you take from sources, you must now begin to record bibliographic information on all sources you look at. Depending on your assignment and teacher, you may be asked to record the information on bibliography cards. Before you start this, understand that a bibliography is a record of everything that you considered worthwhile, even the sources you might later reject. It may include several encyclopedias, for example. A bibliography, then, is different from a Works Cited page which appears at the end of the paper in that those works are actually quoted in the paper. Bibliographies include everything examined. Re-read this paragraph. We KNOW you weren't paying attention. We're getting into the technical areas of the paper, which, if you are a mutant, can actually be fun.

Whether you record the information on bibliography cards or just on paper (ask your teacher), bibliographies are written in formal MLA style. You should also note the call number of the book in one corner.

Bibliography Cards:

To complete a bibliography card you must record all of the proper information according to the MLA format. A complete listing of kinds of works and examples appears in the last section of this guide, but we have provided you with some common examples of proper format, along with a sample bibliography card.

For a source you think you may use, prepare a 3x5 card with the source's bibliographic information on it.
For books (not enclyclopedias), record the author's last name, then first name. Then the title of the work. Then record the city (not state) of publication, publisher, and date of publication. Most of this information is found on the first two pages before the title page.

Follow this procedure for all the sources, using both the illustrating examples that follow and the more complete list of examples in the chapter entitled 'The Works Cited Page.' THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF SOURCES, EACH ONE JUST SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY DONE. THESE NEED TO BE DONE, THOUGH, EXACTLY AS THEY ARE DONE IN THOSE EXAMPLES, RIGHT DOWN TO THE SPACING AND THE COMMAS.

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Sample Bibliography Card -Book

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Sample Bibliography Card - Magazine Article