Educator's Guide to Citing Internet Sources
How To Read a URL (Citing an Internet Source, Kankakee Valley High School, http://kv.k12.in.us/cite.htm, (March, 1999)
URLs (Universal Resource Locators) are addresses used by each and every web pages to show their location on the Internet. Taking a Kankee Valley web server URL (address) for example, it can have four parts:
1. Among the various kinds of protocols now in common use are the following: web pages (http), ftp, and telnet.
2.A site is the server's location on the Internet. Each server must have a unique name. Be careful, some sites are made to look like others!
3.& 4. A path and/or file name is how you find the page on a server.
Understanding how to read a URL will help when citing Internet resources.
Format:
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Work." Title of Complete Work. [protocol and address] [path] (date of message or visit).
Ex. Wagner, K. "Guide for Citing Electronic Information", http://www.wilpaterson.edu/wpcpages/library/citing.htm, (February, 1999)
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Sites:
To cite files available for downloading via ftp, give the author's name (if known), the full title of the paper in quotation marks, and the address of the ftp site along with the full path to follow to find the paper, and the date of access.
Ex. Bruckman, Amy. "Approaches to Managing Deviant Behavior in Virtual Communities." ftp.media.mit.edu pub/asb/papers/deviance-chi94 (4 Dec.1994).
WWW Sites (World Wide Web):
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 full http address, and the date of visit.
Ex. Library of Congress. "Today - 2,000 Years Later." Scrolls From the Dead Sea: The Ancient Library of Qumran and Modern Scholarship. http://sunsite.unc.edu/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/Today/today.ht ml (27 Oct. 1995)
Telnet Sites:
(Sites and Files available via the telnet protocol)
List the author's name (if known), the title of the work (if shown) in quotation marks, the title of the full work if applicable in italics, and the complete telnet address, along with directions to access the publication, along with the date of visit.
Ex. Gomes, Lee. "Xerox's On-Line Neighborhood: A Great Place to Visit." Mercury News 3 May 1992. telnet lambda.parc.xerox.com 8888, @go #50827, press 13 (5 Dec. 1994).
Synchronous Communications:
(MOOs, MUDs, IRC, etc.)
Give the name of the speaker(s) and type of communication (i.e.,Personal Interview), the address if applicable and the date in parentheses.
Ex. Pine_Guest. Personal Interview. telnet world.sensemedia.net 1234 (12 Dec.1994).
Ex. WorldMOO Christmas Party. telnet world.sensemedia.net 1234 (24 Dec. 1994).
GOPHER Sites
(Information available via gopher search protocols)
For information found using gopher search protocols, list the author's name, the title of the paper in quotation marks, any print publication information, and the gopher search path followed to access the information, including the date that the file was accessed.
Ex. Quittner, Joshua. "Far Out: Welcome to Their World Built of MUD." Published in Newsday, 7 Nov. 1993. gopher /University of Koeln/About MUDs, MOOs and MUSEs in Education/Selected Papers/newsday (5 Dec. 1994).
E-mail, Listserv, and Newslist Citations
Give the author's name (if known), the subject line from the posting in quotation marks, and the address of the listserv or newslist, along with the date. For personal e-mail listings, the address may be omitted.
Newsgroup:
York, Ian. "Re: Wonder Bread Psychosis." alt.folklore.urban. (18 Oct 1995).
Listserv:
Seabrook, Richard H. C. "Community and Progress." cybermind@jefferson.village.virginia.edu (22 Jan. 1994)
Personal E-mail:
Thomson, Barry. "Virtual Reality." Personal e-mail (25 Jan. 1995).
Educator's sheet adapted from:
Walker, Janice R., " A Style Sheet for Citing Internet Resources:MLA Style", http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~intemann/mlastyle.htm, (February, 1999)
APA Manual, 4th edition
Wagner, K. "Guide for Citing Electronic Information", http://www.wilpaterson.edu/wpcpages/library/citing.htm, (February, 1999)