Humanities Styles (MLA and ACW)

Humanities Styles (MLA and ACW)

Parenthetic (In-Text) Citations

Preparing the List of Works Cited

WWW Sites
Email, Listservs, Newsgroups
Gopher Sites
FTP Sites
Telnet Sites
MOO, MUD, IRC
Online Reference Sources/Databases
Electronic Publications
Software and Games

Although the 4th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers includes some examples for citing electronic sources, these formats are still tentative. An alternative format for MLA-style, developed by Janice R. Walker of the University of South Florida, has been endorsed by the Alliance for Computers and Writing (ACW), and adapted by many textbooks and publishers. This style, known as the ACW style, is presented below and is to be used to cite electronic and Internet sources in an MLA-style paper. However, we have also presented the formats included in the MLA Handbook. You should check with your teacher for guidance as to which style to follow.
General Format
As a rule, the second and subsequent lines of an ACW or MLA citation are indented five spaces under the first line. (Keep in mind that other factors, such as your browser, might affect indents and other formatting issues. For example, depending on where you're reading this, if you count the "spaces" on the screen or try to print the screen out, the indents for the following sample citations might not be exactly five "spaces."

ACW: Author's Lastname, Author's Firstname. "Title of
Document." Title of Complete Work (if applicable).
Version or File Number, if applicable. Document date
or date of last revision (if different from access date).
Protocol and address, access path or directories (date
of access).

MLA: Author's Lastname, Author's Firstname. "Title of
Document." Title of Complete Work (if applicable).
Volume, Issue, or other Identifying Number.
Document date (if known). Title of the database
(underlined). Publication medium (i.e., Online). Name
of computer network. Date of access.

Note: MLA says that, as supplementary information, you may want to include the electronic address of the source at the end of the entry, preceded by the word "Available."

World Wide Web (WWW) Sites

ACW: To cite files available for viewing/downloading via the World Wide Web, give the author's name (if known), the full title of the work in quotation marks, the title of the complete work if applicable in italics, the document date if known and if different from the date accessed, the full http address, and the date of visit.
Burka, Lauren P. "A Hypertext History of Multi-User
Dimensions." The MUDdex. 1993.
http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/lpb/muddex/essay/
(5 Dec. 1994).

MLA: List the author's name, last name first, the title of the article enclosed in quotation marks, the title of the complete work, underlined, followed by the date of publication. Next list the medium of publication (i.e., Online), the network (i.e., Internet), and the date of access. You may include the electronic address for the source, preceded by the word "Available," the protocol, and a colon, after the date of access (for example, Available HTTP: http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/lpb/muddex/essay/.).

Burka, Lauren P. "A Hypertext History of Multi-User
Dimensions." The MUDdex. 1993. Online. Internet.
5 Dec. 1994.

E-mail, Listserv, and Newsgroup Citations

ACW: Give the author's name or alias (if known), the subject line from the posting in quotation marks, the date of the message if different from the date accessed, and the address of the listserv or newslist, along with the date of access in parentheses. For personal e-mail listings, omit the e-mail address.

Bruckman, Amy S. "MOOSE Crossing Proposal."
mediamoo@media.mit.edu (20 Dec. 1994).

Seabrook, Richard H. C. "Community and Progress."
cybermind@jefferson.village.virginia.edu (22 Jan.
1994).

Thomson, Barry. "Virtual Reality." Personal e-mail (25
Jan. 1995).

MLA: List the author's name, last name first, followed by the subject line of the e-mail, enclosed in quotation marks, the date of the posting, the type of posting, the address of the list to which the post was sent, the name of the network, and the date of access.

Bruckman, Amy S. "MOOSE Crossing Proposal." 20
Dec. 1994. Online posting. Listserv
mediamoo@media.mit.edu. Internet. 20 Dec. 1994.

Seabrook, Richard H. C. "Community and Progress."
22 Jan. 1994. Online posting. Listserv
cybermind@jefferson village.virginia.edu. Internet.
22 Jan. 1994.

Thomson, Barry. "Virtual Reality." E-mail to the author.
25 Jan. 1995.

Gopher Sites (Information available via gopher search protocols)

ACW: For information found using gopher search protocols, list the author's name (if known), the title of the paper in quotation marks, the date of publication if known and if different from the date accessed, any print publication information, and the gopher search path followed to access the information, including the date that the file was accessed.

"The Netoric Project."
gopher://kairos.daedalus.com:70/00ftp%3APub%
3AACW%3ANETORIC%3A-Welcome-(13 Jan.
1996).

MLA: List the author's name, last name first (if known), the title of the file, enclosed in quotation marks, and print publication information, if given, the title of the online service, underlined, if applicable, the type of service (i.e., Online), the name of the network, and the date of access.

"The Netoric Project." Online. Internet. 13 Jan. 1996.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Sites

ACW: To cite files available for downloading via ftp, give the author's name (if known), the full title of the paper in quotation marks, the document date if known and if different from the date accessed, and the address of the ftp site along with the full path to follow to find the paper, and the date of access.

Bruckman, Amy. "Approaches to Managing Deviant
Behavior in Virtual Communities." Apr. 1994.
ftp://ftp.media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/deviance-
chi94.txt (4 Dec.1994).

MLA: List the author's name, last name first, if known, the title of the file in quotation marks, followed by any print publication information and/or the date of publication of the file, the name of the online service, if applicable, the type of medium, the name of the network, and the date of access.

Bruckman, Amy. "Approaches to Managing Deviant
Behavior in Virtual Communities." Apr. 1994.
Online. Internet. 4 Dec. 1994.

Telnet Sites (Sites and Files available via the telnet protocol)

ACW: List the author's name or alias (if known), the title of the work (if shown) in quotation marks, the title of the full work if applicable in italics, the document date if known and if different from the date accessed, and the complete telnet address, along with directions to access the publication, along with the date of visit.

traci (#377). "DaedalusMOO Purpose Statement."
DaedalusMOO. telnet://daedalus.com:7777, help
purpose (30 Apr. 1996).

MLA: List the author's name (if known), the title of the work (if given) enclosed in quotation marks, the title of the complete work and/or the name of the database or service provider, if applicable, underlined, the medium, the name of the network, and the date of access.

traci (#377). "DaedalusMOO Purpose Statement."
DaedalusMOO. Online. Internet. 30 Apr. 1996.

Synchronous Communications (MOOs, MUDs, IRC, etc.)

ACW: Give the name of the speaker(s) and type of communication (i.e., Personal Interview), the address if applicable and the date in parentheses.

Pine_Guest. Personal interview.
telnet://world.sensemedia.net 1234 (12 Dec.1994).

WorldMOO Christmas Party. telnet
world.sensemedia.net 1234 (24 Dec. 1994).

MLA: List the name of the speaker or author, last name first, followed by the type of communication (i.e., Personal interview), and the date of access. For logs of synchronous discussions available through telnet, list the title of the file, enclosed in quotation marks, the name of the online service, the medium, the name of the network, and the date of access.

Pine_Guest. Personal interview. 12 Dec. 1994
"WorldMOO Christmas Party." WorldMOO.
Online. Internet. 24 Dec. 1994.

Online Reference Sources and Databases

ACW: Give the author's name (if known), the title of the article, the title of the complete work along with any publication information, identification of the online edition, if applicable, the name of the online service, path followed, and date of access.

"Fine Arts." Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. 2nd ed.
Ed. E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James
Trefil. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. INSO Corp.
America Online. Reference
Desk/Dictionaries/Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
(20 May 1996).

MLA: List the author's name (if known), last name first, the title of the article or entry, enclosed in quotation marks, the title of the complete work, underlined, followed by and publication information. Next, list the name of the service, underlined, the medium of publication, and the name of the network or provider, and the date of access.

"Fine Arts." Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. 2nd ed. Ed.
E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. America Online.
Online. INSO Corp. 20 May 1996.

Electronic Publications

ACW: List the author's name, if known, the title of the article in quotation marks, if applicable, the title of the publication in italics, any version or edition numbers, series name, if applicable, and publication information.

Zieger, Herman E. "Aldehyde." The Software
Toolworks Multimedia Encyclopedia. Vers. 1.5.
Software Toolworks. Boston: Grolier, 1992.

MLA: List the author's name, last name first (if known), the title of the article or entry, enclosed in quotation marks, the title of the complete work, underlined, any version or publication information, the type of medium, the city of publication, the name of the publisher, and the date of publication.

Zieger, Herman E. "Aldehyde." The Software
Toolworks Multimedia Encyclopedia. Vers. 1.5.
CD-ROM. Boston: Grolier, 1992.

Software and Video Games

ACW: List the author's name, if known, last name first, the title of the software or video game (in italics), the version or other identifying information, publisher information, and the date of publication. Note that the date of access is not required for software and video games.

ID Software. The Ultimate Doom. NY: GT Interactive
Software, 1995.

MLA: List the author's name, if known, last name first, the title of the software or video game (underlined), the version or other identifying information, if applicable, the type of medium, the publisher information, and the date of publication.

ID Software. The Ultimate Doom. Diskette, CD-ROM.
NY: GT Interactive Software, 1995.

© 1999 by Addison Wesley Longman
A division of Pearson Education

ACW:	Author's Lastname, Author's Firstname. "Title of Document." Title of Complete Work (if applicable). Version or File Number, if applicable. Document date or date of last revision (if different from access date). Protocol and address, access path or directories (date of access).
MLA:	Author's Lastname, Author's Firstname. "Title of Document." Title of Complete Work (if applicable). Volume, Issue, or other Identifying Number. Document date (if known). Title of the database (underlined). Publication medium (i.e., Online). Name of computer network. Date of access.