MLA CITATION The Modern Language Association Guide to basic citations for online sources.

WHAT IS MLA AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?  MLA stands for the Modern Language Association.  This organization is an academic organization focused on language and its impact in the world.  MLA paper format allows your readers to easily understand your writing by placing necessary cues like the MLA heading as guide and making the right citations as a support and tool for further study.

MLA: MAPS RESEARCH BASED THOUGHT  Writing based on the MLA format is similar to putting down a map so that your readers will not get lost and can easily follow your thoughts especially when your document proves to be technical and lengthy.  MLA is used to establish your credibility as a well-organized writer/researcher known for a clear and easily understood style.  MLA is used to establish your credibility as an independent thinker.

BASIC RULES FOR PRINT AND ONLINE SOURCES  The MLA is a system of in-text citations  MLA depends heavily on authors’ names and page numbers  MLA was originally created with print sources in mind.  Although many online sources have unclear authorship and lack page numbers, the basic rules are the same for both print and online sources.

AUTHOR NAMED IN A SIGNAL PHRASE  Frederick Lane reports that employers do not necessarily have to use software to monitor how their employees use the Web: employers can “use a hidden video camera pointed at an employee’s monitor” and even position a camera ”so that a number of monitors [can] be viewed at the same time” (147).  The signal phrase — Frederick Lane reports — names the author; the parenthetical citation gives the page number of the book in which the quoted words may be found.

AUTHOR NAMED IN PARENTHESES  Companies can monitor employees’ every keystroke without legal penalty, but they may have to combat low morale as a result (Lane 129).  The author of this paper chose to paraphrase-express the meaning of the writer or speaker or something written or spoken using different words.

PAGE NUMBER UNKNOWN  Do not include the page number if a work lacks page numbers, as is the case with many Web sources.  As a 2005 study by Salary.com and America Online indicates, the Internet ranked as the top choice among employees for ways of wasting time on the job; it beat talking with co-workers—the second most popular method—by a margin of nearly two to one (Frauenheim).

PAGE NUMBER UNKNOWN  Kathleen Fay reports that in 2000 the National Labor Relations Board’s Office of the General Counsel helped win restitution for two workers who had been dismissed because their employers were displeased by the employees’ s about work- related issues. The case points to the ongoing struggle to define what constitutes protected speech in the workplace.

PAGE NUMBER IN CITATION  Kathleen Fay reports that in 2000 the National Labor Relations Board’s Office of the General Counsel helped win restitution for two workers who had been dismissed because their employers were displeased by the employees’ s about work- related issues (62). The case points to the ongoing struggle to define what constitutes protected speech in the workplace.

WORKS CITED  "Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May Web. 24 May  Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.” New York Times. New York Times, May Web. 25 May  Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." New York Times. New York Times, 22 May Web. 25 May  Ebert, Roger. "An Inconvenient Truth." Rev. of An Inconvenient Truth, dir. Davis Guggenheim. Rogerebert.com. Sun-Times News Group, 2 June Web. 24 May 2009.