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Guide to Citations

A guide for everyone explaining basics of different types of Citation: What their purposes are, how to do them, and why they are important.

Basic Footnote Format

AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName, "Title of Web Article," WebsiteName, last modified DateIfKnown, link.

Basic Bibliographic Citation

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName. "Title of Web Article." WebsiteName. Last modified DateIfKnown. Link.

Example Citation for this Guide

Musicians Institute Library, "Guide to Citation," Musicians Institute, last modified November 20, 2019, https://library.mi.edu/citation.

  • This is the footnote for the first time the website is cited.

Musicians Institute Library, "Guide to Citation."

  • This is the footnote for every instance after the first that the website is cited.

Musicians Institute Library. "Guide to Citation." Musicians Institute. Last modified November 20, 2019. https://library.mi.edu/citation.

  • This is the bibliographic citation at the end of the paper.

Example Citation for a Social Media Post

Musicians Institute Library (@mi_library), "Happy birthday to the great Duke Ellington!...'The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen' #DukeEllington #musician #jazz #HappyBirthday," Twitter, April 29, 2019, https://twitter.com/mi_library/status/1122955384870670337?s=21.

  • This is the footnote for the first time the article is cited.

Musicians Institute Library (@mi_library), "Happy birthday to the great Duke Ellington!..."

  • This is the footnote for every instance after the first that the article is cited.

Musicians Institute Library (@mi_library). "Happy birthday to the great Duke Ellington!...'The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen' #DukeEllington #musician #jazz #HappyBirthday." Twitter. April 29, 2019. https://twitter.com/mi_library/status/1122955384870670337?s=21.​

  • This is the bibliographic citation at the end of the paper.

Basic Footnote Format

NameOfAccount (@handle), "Entire written post unless it's long, in which case shorten the post...," Social Media Name, PostingDate, link.

Basic Bibliographic Format

NameOfAccount (@handle). "Entire written post unless it's long, in which case shorten the post..."

Social Media Name. PostingDate. link.

Basic Footnote Format

WriterFirstName WriterLastName, Type of Communication Used, Date of communication.

  • Personal communications are not usually cited in bibliographies, only in the notes section. Since it's short, there isn't a truncated version.

Example Citation for a Personal Communication

Casey Burgess, Facebook message to author, November 20, 2019.