1. Introduction to MLA Bibliography
Works Cited

2. Why do I need a bibliography?
Every research project should be accompanied by a bibliography listing your sources.
English and other humanities classes use the MLA (Modern Language Association) format for citing sources.
The title of your bibliography in the MLA style is Works Cited.
Keep track of the information you need for your bibliography as you do your research; it’s much harder to go back later and find the information.

3. Why do I need to cite my sources?
To be honest and ethical
To recognize someone else’s intellectual property
To avoid plagiarism
To avoid academic censure and/or legal trouble

4. What needs to be cited?
Quotation = exact copy of author’s words. Paraphrase = author’s idea put in your own words, approximately same length. Borrowed idea = shorter summary of author’s original idea.

5. What does not need to be cited?
FACTS that can be verified in 3 sources or
information that is common knowledge or
simply common sense.
Examples of facts:
Birth & death dates & places
Locations of landmarks
If in doubt, cite it!

6. Create a citation for each source that you use in your research
You may use Noodle Tools to create your MLA style bibliography online.
But remember that you are ultimately responsible for the correct formatting of your citations.

7. Rules for your MLA bibliography
The title is Works Cited.
List all sources in alphabetical order by the first word in the citation.
The first word in each citation is the author’s last name or the title (if there is no author).

8. More rules for your MLA bibliography
Double space the entire Works Cited page.
Use a hanging indent for each citation: the 1st line of each entry is flush with the left margin & succeeding lines are indented 5 spaces.
(The next slide shows an example of a Works Cited page.)

9. Works Cited
Downie, David. Paris, Paris: Journey Into the City of Light. Broadway Books, Rosenblum, Mort. The Secret Life of the Seine. Da Capo Press, Saperstein, Pat. "Julie Delpy's Paris." Variety, 7 June 2004, p. S26. Popular Culture Collection, &sid=PPOP&xid=2c41fa5d. Accessed 29 Jan

10. More help with MLA bibliography
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) – This is a link to the MLA section of Purdue University’s excellent writing and bibliography guide.
MLA Style Center – The MLA’s own website can be helpful with answering your questions.
We also have copies of the MLA Handbook
(8th edition) in the library for reference.