Help with Constructing a Works Cited List (Bibliography) using MLA or APA:

It's April, also known as term paper season.

That means gathering and formatting your list of sources to include on your 'works cited list' (also referred to as a 'reference list' or 'bibliography'). Most students are required to use either the MLA or APA style of citations.

Here are some links to guides which will offer some help with this (unpleasant, but) necessary step in writing a research paper.

• Citation Styles, Tools & Techniques

Note in particular the following guides:

• Citing Your Sources - APA Style
• Citing Your Sources - MLA Style
• Citations: Deciphering and Using Them

In addition, the Library subscribes to tools which can help you automate this process. Furthermore, some of the article databases will also gather the components for the citation:

• RefWorks
• RefWorks Resource Guide (i.e. a how-to guide)
• NoodleBib
• Citation Tools in Sawyer Library Databases

Recurring Reference Question: I sent myself a link to an article, but now the link doesn't work. Help!

If you capture a link to an article from the address bar in one of our databases, then chances are, the link will not work later on. This is because the URL in the address bar was created on-the-fly, based on the search that you performed, and it is not a permanent link.

Instead, look for a link within the identifying record for the article (where the title, author, and source information is given). This may be listed under "tools" (as in the Ebsco databases) and referred to as a:

• PURL, or a Persistent URL
• Permalink
• Document URL

Sometimes the permalink is located all the way at the bottom of the screen, at the very end of the article. The ProQuest databases are in this category (ABI-Inform, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe), as well as the Gale databases (Academic Onefile, Global Issues in Context, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Biography in Context, Gale Virtual Reference.)

Also, if you find a book in the library's catalog, the permanent links are labeled as "Link to this record." Right clicking on the link will give the option to copy the link location.

Library Twitter Contests in April 2014!

Follow @sawlib for a weekly chance to win.

Answer library-related questions for a shot at a $10 mystery gift card.

Bonus: learn awesomeness about Sawyer Library. <3

CONTEST RULES

1. Contests begin each Monday at 12am.
2. Contests end each Thursday at 12pm.
3. Winner randomly chosen from pool of correct answers via Twitter replies.
4. Prizes may be picked up at Reference Desk of Sawyer Library, Sunday through Thursday.
5. Reference Librarians may not be utilized for contest answers! Be honorable, people.
6. If you like: let us know what you think of the contests! :-)

New Database: Communication Source

The Sawyer Library has purchased EBSCO’s new Communication Source, a merger of Communication and Mass Media Complete and Communication Abstracts.

This database offers full-text for over 800 titles, including 600 active titles and 150 full-text titles not found in any EBSCO academic databases. Content pertains to communications, linguistics, rhetoric, speech-language pathology, media studies, and related fields. Coverage dates back to 1915. Communication and Mass Media Complete, Communication Abstracts, and CIOS (Communication Institute for Online Scholarship) are no longer listed amongst our databases, because their content is included within Communication Source.