MLA (and other citation styles) require that you format your bibliographical/works cited entries with hanging indentations. A hanging indentation is when your top line sticks out half an inch to the left past any remaining lines below. Hanging indentations make bibliography lists easier to search through:
Dooley, Kevin. Viewing Seurat. 26 Aug. 2010, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viewing_Seurat_(5000489105).jpg. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Foa, Michelle. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision. Yale University Press, 2015.
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Joy of Museums Virtual Tours, https://joyofmuseums.com/museums/united-states-of-america/chicago-museums/art-institute-of-chicago/a-sunday-afternoon-on-the-island-of-la-grande-jatte/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Highlight the text you wish to format to hanging indentation, or get to where you want to start formatting that way. Under the Home tab at the top, look for the Paragraph section of the menu:
Click on the tiny expand box in the bottom right corner: 
The menu below should appear. In the middle, under Indentation, there is a pull-down menu labelled Special. Click on it, and select Hanging. The box to the right, By, should automatically set to 0.5" or half an inch.
You can also format hanging indentations in Microsoft Word through the Ruler function. Highlight the text you want to format that way or get to where you want to start formatting that way. Then, if it is not already on, turn on the ruler function: click on View in the top menu, and check the box for Ruler, or else type in Show Ruler into the Tell me what you want to do search. A ruler like this should appear:
Look for the hourglass-shaped triangles and box on the left. Click and hold on the box at the bottom of the hourglass, and slide it it half an inch to the right. Then, click on the top downward-pointing triangle, and slide it half an inch back to the left, where it started.
Highlight the text you want to format that way or get to where you want to start formatting that way. Then, if it is not already on, turn on the ruler function: click on View in the top menu, and select Show Ruler. A ruler like this should appear:
Look for the blue triangle and bar on the left. Click and hold on the downward-pointing blue triangle, and slide it it half an inch to the right. Then, click on the top little blue bar, and slide it half an inch back to the left, where it started.
Highlight the text you want to format that way or get to where you want to start formatting that way. Then, if it is not already on, turn on the ruler function: click on View in the top menu, and select Show Ruler. A ruler like this should appear:
Look for the orange triangle and bar on the left. Click and hold on the downward-pointing orange triangle, and slide it it half an inch to the right. Then, click on the top little orange bar, and slide it half an inch back to the left, where it started.
If the program or platform you are typing in does not have any option for making hanging indentations, you can always try preparing the hanging indented entries in Word, Pages, or Google Docs, and then copying and pasting them into the uncooperative program. That's what I had to do to get hanging indents to work in this LibGuide!
An annotated bibliography is a bibliography that includes a short summary/analysis of the bibliographic entries. The annotation appears after the bibliographic entry and is indented with the same hanging indent:
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision, by Michelle Foa, Yale University Press, 2015, p. 64.
Seurat’s masterpiece is considered the greatest example of pointillism, or, applying paint to the canvas strictly through the use of dots. It is considered one of the first neo-impressionist works of art…
For more annotated bibliography examples, check out Purdue OWL.
The preferred citation style for English Courses at Daley College is MLA (Modern Language Association). The resources below can help you learn how to format your citations.
There are two things you need when citing something in a paper: an in-text citation and a works cited/bibliographic entry. An in-text citation is the limited amount of information that your reader can use to look through your cited list/bibliography and find the full bibliographic entry so that she can access the cited work if necessary. In MLA, a basic in-text citation in an essay is made up of whatever comes first in the bibliographic entry (author's last name or the title of an anonymous work) and, if there are any, the page numbers where you found the quote or data or information (p. X for one page, pp. X-Y for multiple pages). If there is no author, instead put the title or a shortened version of the title. If you have multiple works by the same author in your bibliography, you should include the author's last name and a shortened version of the title. For more information and examples, check out the MLA Style Center.
If you are citing a book with the following bibliographic entry:
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
...then your in-text citation would look like this:
Diamond argues: "the striking differences between long-term histories of peoples of the different continents have been due...to differences in their environments" (p. 405).
OR
"The striking differences between long-term histories of peoples of the different continents have been due...to differences in their environments" (Diamond, p. 405).
If, for example, you are citing a painting by Seurat, with the following bibliographic entry:
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision, by Michelle Foa, Yale University Press, 2015, p. 64.
...then your in-text citation should look like:
Seurat also gives insight into how nineteenth-century Europeans utilized green spaces.
OR
Contemporary artwork shows that nineteenth-century Europeans enjoyed relaxing in green spaces (Seurat).
If, however, your bibliography has multiple works by Jared Diamond, or multiple works by two or more authors with the last name Diamond, your in-text citation should include a shortened version of the title:
"The striking differences between long-term histories of peoples of the different continents have been due...to differences in their environments" (Diamond, Guns, p. 405).
In-text citations utilize the first word of a bibliographic entry. If a work is anonymous, then the first part of your bibliographic entry is the title. So, if you have a bibliographic entry for this book:
The Táin. Translated by Thomas Kinsella, brush drawings by Louis Le Brocquy, Oxford University Press, 1970.
...then your in-text citation would look like:
Another powerful woman in Irish legend is Crunniuc mac Agnomain's wife, who curses the men of Ulster to endure the labor pains of a mother in childbirth whenever Ulster is in peril (The Táin, pp. 6-8).
1. Author
2. Title
3. Title of Container
4. Contributor
5. Version
6. Number
7. Publisher
8. Publication Date
*Medium
9. Location
*Access Date
When putting together a works cited/bibliographic entry, put the elements into this order. While you should try to fill in as many elements as you can, most sources will not have values for all nine elements; the only core element you always must have is #2 Title. There are also two optional elements, Medium and Access Date, that you may decide to include for citing works of art or websites, respectively. The author and title are followed by period, while every other element is followed be a comma, except the last element in that work.
The core elements can then be plugged in to make your citation in order, minus the core elements for which there were no answers. For example, if your source only has core elements 1, 2, 7, and 8 (like many books), then your citation would just be:
#1 Author Last Name, First Name. #2 Title. #7 Publisher, #8 Date.
Foa, Michelle. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision. Yale University Press, 2015.
If your work has a container, type in all the values that you have, #1-9, for the original source, and put a period; then, put in all the values you have for the container, #3-9 (see the examples below). The exact formatting for your citation, from what to italicize to where to put periods or commas, will depend on the type of resource for which you are making a citation (see the examples below).
To look at examples or use a practice temple, check out the MLA Style Center website!
Click on each of the tabs at the top to learn more about each element and how it is usually formatted!
Author: The name(s) of the primary creator(s) of the source. If the author is a person, then their name should be put in as family name, first name. If there are multiple authors, all the authors' names (other than the first should be put in first name family name. If the author has only one name (like a handle), or if the author is an organization, then it is just one name. If the author is unknown or anonymous, skip this and start the citation with the title instead. The author's name in a citation is almost always followed by a period.
Single author (last name, first name):
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Mutliple authors (last name, first name, first name last name, and first name last name):
Wang, Robin, Philippe Humblé, and Juqiang Chen. “Towards a Socio-Cultural Account of Literary Canon’s Retranslation and Reinterpretation: The Case of The Journey to the West.” Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies, vol. 34, no. 4, 2020, pp. 117–31.
Institution as Author (cut any the, a, or an at the beginning):
American Library Association. Library Bill of Rights. 29 Jan. 2019, https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill.
Anonymous work (skip the author and begin with the title, alphabetize by the first word after the first the, a, or an):
The Táin. Translated by Thomas Kinsella, brush drawings by Louis Le Brocquy, Oxford University Press, 1970.
The title of the work is the full title of the source given by the author. This is the only core element that you MUST have; if the source gives no title, put in your own short description to act as the title. The main title is almost always followed by a period.
A container is a broader work in which the source is found. Your source may have no container, or multiple containers! For example, a one-off printed book by one author has no container. Some examples of containers include:
If your work has a container, you may have to gather information on the core elements of the specific work you are citing and the container itself. The core elements for the cited work will precede, ending with a period, the core elements for the container.
The exact formatting of titles and titles of containers can vary, but here's the general breakdown:
Ault, Alicia. “The Smithsonian’s Plan to Return the Benin Bronzes Comes After Years of Relationship Building.” Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Mar. 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/the-smithsonians-return-of-the-benin-bronzes-comes-after-years-of-relationship-building-180979716/.
Samatar, Sofia. “Toward a Planetary History of Afrofuturism.” Research in African Literatures, vol. 48, no. 4, 2017, pp. 175–91. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2979/reseafrilite.48.4.12. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.
Sunjata: A New Prose Version. Translated by David Conrad, Hackett Publishing Company, 2016.
Yoruba Seated Figure. Ca. 13th-14th c., copper, The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Lagos. Africa: The Art of the Continent: 100 Works of Power and Beauty, Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1996, pp. 124-125.
If applicable, a Contributor is the names of anyone other than the author who took part in bringing you this source and how they contributed to it, such as an editor, translator, director, or any other figure who added some creative aspect to the work. Their names should go first name then last name.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Directed by Ryan Coogler, costume design by Ruth E. Carter, Marvel Studios, 2022. Disney+ streaming app.
Munisi, Nakanyike. “Women and State Formation in Buganda.” Problems in African History, edited by Robert O. Collins and Ruth Iyob, 4th ed., Markus Wiener Publishers, 2014, pp. 225-235.
The Táin. Translated by Thomas Kinsella, brush drawings by Louis Le Brocquy, Oxford University Press, 1970.
If you are not citing the original work or first edition, you need to note what version or edition you are citing.
Jurassic Park. Directed by Steven Spielberg, 20th Anniversary 3D Re-release, Universal Pictures, 2013. Blu-ray.
Munisi, Nakanyike. “Women and State Formation in Buganda.” Problems in African History: The Precolonial Centuries, edited by Robert O. Collins and Ruth Iyob, 4th ed., Markus Wiener Publishers, 2014, pp. 225-235.
If your source is one in a sequence of sources, then you need to note the number in the sequence. This is common for noting the volume and issue number of a journal or the episode number of a TV show.
"Long, Long Time." The Last of Us, season 1, episode 3, HBO, 29 Jan. 2023. HBO Max app.
Samatar, Sofia. “Toward a Planetary History of Afrofuturism.” Research in African Literatures, vol. 48, no. 4, 2017, pp. 175–91. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2979/reseafrilite.48.4.12. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.
Publisher: The name of the institution that published the source.
Foa, Michelle. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision. Yale University Press, 2015.
Publication date: For something published, the date the publisher published the work. For an unprinted work of art or image, the date or range of dates over which the work was produced. If the item has a specific date, then format it day month abbreviated year (for example, 11 Mar. 2022).
Ault, Alicia. “The Smithsonian’s Plan to Return the Benin Bronzes Comes After Years of Relationship Building.” Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Mar. 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/the-smithsonians-return-of-the-benin-bronzes-comes-after-years-of-relationship-building-180979716/.
Sunjata: A New Prose Version. Translated by David Conrad, Hackett Publishing Company, 2016.
Yoruba Seated Figure. Ca. 13th-14th c., copper, The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Lagos. Africa: The Art of the Continent: 100 Works of Power and Beauty, Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1996, pp. 124-125.
If you are citing a work of art, you can if you want at this point put in medium, or the materials of the artwork (for example, oil on canvas or photograph).
Dooley, Kevin. Viewing Seurat. 26 Aug. 2010, photograph, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viewing_Seurat_(5000489105).jpg. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.
Winged bull (lamassu). 8th c. BCE, gypsum with restoration, Oriental Institute, Chicago.
The location is the place in which the source is found. Examples include the museum in which a sculpture is displayed, the archives holding the manuscript, the page numbers in which the article appears in the journal, or the URL (ideally, a permalink or DOI) of the website. Your source may have multiple locations; for example, if you are writing an entry for a digitized journal article, the locations would be the pages of the article AND the URL. In MLA, a location is different than a container!
Dooley, Kevin. Viewing Seurat. 26 Aug. 2010, photograph, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viewing_Seurat_(5000489105).jpg. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision, by Michelle Foa, Yale University Press, 2015, p. 64.
Wang, Robin, Philippe Humblé, and Juqiang Chen. “Towards a Socio-Cultural Account of Literary Canon’s Retranslation and Reinterpretation: The Case of The Journey to the West.” Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies, vol. 34, no. 4, 2020, pp. 117–31.
If you are citing a website (as opposed to a DOI or permalink) you can at the very end put in the date on which you accessed the website. This can be a good idea as websites (as opposed to DOIs or permalinks) can quickly change or be deleted. Format the access date day month abbreviated year (for example, Accessed 15 Nov. 2022).
Sudworth, John. “The faces from China's Uyghur detention camps.” BBC, May 2022, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/85qihtvw6e/the-faces-from-chinas-uyghur-detention-camps?utm_source=digg. Accessed 15 Nov. 2022.
Since many videos, particularly TV shows and movies, are big productions, there is more flexibility in how to cite videos. Let's start by translating the MLA Core Elements into video terms:
1. AUTHOR: Who made the video? (Note that "big" productions like films and TV shows are not considered to have an author!)
2. TITLE: What is the specific video called?
3. TITLE OF CONTAINER: If the video is one episode of a series, what is the series title?
4. CONTRIBUTOR: Were there any contributors significant to why you are citing this video?
5. VERSION: Is the video an edited re-release?
6. NUMBER: If it is an episode of a series, what are the season and episode numbers?
7. PUBLISHER: What are the name(s) of the production/distribution companies?
8. PUBLICATION DATE: When was the video released/published/uploaded?
9. LOCATION: Where did you watch it? (if in a theater, ignore this)
There are a few core elements you should always look for when citing a TV show. You can do so by asking these questions:
2. TITLE: What is the title of the episode (in quotation marks)?
3. TITLE OF CONTAINER: What is the title of the series or the title of the DVD (in italics)?
4. CONTRIBUTOR: (optional)
6. NUMBER: What are the season and episode numbers?
7. PUBLISHER: What company produced/showed it? (you can separate multiple companies with a /)
8. DATE: When did the episode originally air? When was the DVD/Blu-ray released?
9. LOCATION: Where did you watch it? (On TV? Through an app? DVD?) If on a DVD box set, which disc?
TV episode viewed normally on TV
"Michael's Gambit." The Good Place, season 1, episode 13, Fremulon / NBC, 19 Jan. 2017.
TV episode viewed on a streaming app
"Michael's Gambit." The Good Place, season 1, episode 13, Fremulon / NBC, 19 Jan. 2017. Netflix app.
TV episode viewed on a streaming app with noted contributors
"Michael's Gambit." The Good Place, screenplay by Michael Schur, season 1, episode 13, Fremulon / NBC, 19 Jan. 2017. Apple TV+ app.
TV episode viewed on a DVD/Blu-ray of a complete season
"Michael's Gambit." 2017. The Good Place: The Complete First Season, created by Michael Schur, episode 13, Fremulon / NBC, 2018, disc 2. DVD.
There are a few core elements you should always look for when citing a movie. You can do so by asking these questions:
2. TITLE: What is the title of the movie (in italics)?
4. CONTRIBUTOR: Who was the director? What are the names of any particular contributors of note?
5. VERSION: Is it an edited re-release?
7. PUBLISHER: What company produced/distributed it (you can separate multiple companies with a /)?
8. DATE: What was the original release/publication date?
9. LOCATION: If you did not watch it in a theater, where did you watch it?
Movie viewed in a theater
Jurassic Park. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures, 1993.
Movie viewed via a streaming app
Jurassic Park. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures, 1993. Amazon Prime streaming app.
Movie viewed in a theater noting other contributors
Jurassic Park. Directed by Steven Spielberg, CGI by Industrial Light & Magic, Universal Pictures, 1993.
Movie rebroadcast on TV
Jurassic Park. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures, 1993. NBC rebroadcast, 7 May 1995.
Edited, re-released movie viewed on Blu-ray
Jurassic Park. Directed by Steven Spielberg, 20th Anniversary 3D Re-release, Universal Pictures, 2013. Blu-ray.
There are a few core elements you should always look for when citing an online video. You can do so by asking these questions:
1. AUTHOR: Who made the video? Include both the author's real name AND handle if available!
2. TITLE: What is the title of the video (“in quotation marks”)?
3. CONTAINER: On what website did you watch it (in italics)?
4. CONTRIBUTOR: If not the author, who uploaded it?
8. DATE: When was the video uploaded?
9. LOCATION: What is the URL?
Compared to book or article citations, MLA Core Elements are a little more flexible for online videos. The following three examples are all acceptable ways to cite the same YouTube video in MLA, although the first of the three is the best, as it provides more author information.
YouTube video with both the author's name and handle known
Rudder, Joshua [NativLang]. "Why West Africa keeps inventing writing systems." YouTube, 30 Apr. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa8BYZrSTxY&t=37s.
YouTube video with only the handle known
NativLang. "Why West Africa keeps inventing writing systems." YouTube, 30 Apr. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa8BYZrSTxY&t=37s.
YouTube video noting the channel as uploader
"Why West Africa keeps inventing writing systems." YouTube, uploaded by NativLang, 30 Apr. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa8BYZrSTxY&t=37s.
Generic Website with no explicit author
"Web Exclusive: Attenborough Interrupted." BBC Two, 26 Jan. 2015, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gyy64.
There are a few core elements you should always look for when citing an online video. You can do so by asking these questions:
1. AUTHOR: Who made the video? Include both the author's real name AND handle if available!
2. TITLE: What is the title of the video (“in quotation marks”)?
3. CONTAINER: On what app did you watch it (in italics)?
4. CONTRIBUTOR: If not the author, who uploaded it?
8. DATE: When was the video uploaded?
9. LOCATION: What is the URL?
TikTok Video
Lilly [@uvisaa]. “[I]f u like dark academia there’s a good chance you’ve seen my tumblr #darkacademia.” TikTok, 2020, www.tiktok.com/@uvisaa/video/6815708894900391173.
Instagram Reels
Hamilton Videos [@hamilton.vods]. Video of King George in Hamilton. Instagram, 5 July 2020, www.instagram.com/p/CCPEUJLDz0l/.
A bibliographic citation is meant to give the reader all of the information she needs to find and access the source being cited. When citing an online resource like website, an ebook, or an article obtained online, that means including the web address, otherwise known as the URL or Uniform Resource Locator.
Citing websites can be tricky. While many works on the internet are freely open to anyone, many others, including those obtained via the library website, are only available to verified users with a login or users who pay to get access to something behind a paywall. If you are citing a source that requires a login or is behind a paywall, you MUST use what is variously called a stable URL or permalink.
One specific type of stable URL is a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), a URL which is permanently linked to that object. Anyone making online content can register their content with the DOI organization. DOIs all begin https://www.doi.org or https://doi.org
Permalinks and DOIs are also better because they tend to be shorter. Compared the non-stable URL to the Permalink and DOI for Sofia Samatar's 2017 article, “Toward a Planetary History of Afrofuturism”:
Non-stable link/URL (Uniform Resource Locator):
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/reseafrilite.48.4.12?searchText=Afrofuturism&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DAfrofuturism&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A081adcf3ca16e4645b07f66cb57953a6#metadata_info_tab_contents
Permalink/Stable URL (Uniform Resource Locator):
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/reseafrilite.48.4.12
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
CCC Library has a variety of databases provided by EBSCO, including Academic Search Complete, a great and popular database for academic articles and books. When you search for and click on an article or item, look for the Permalink option with the chain link icon at the bottom of the right-side menu. Click on it, and a Permalink will appear above the title of the article, like in the image below.
JSTOR is one of the best and most popular databases for finding academic journal articles. When you search for and click on an article, look to the left side. If need be, click on the info tab, and use either the DOI or Stable URL.
What are the core elements for this basic book, and how would you turn them into a bibliographic citation?
Author: Diamond, Jared
Title: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Title of container: N/A
Contributor: N/A
Version: N/A
Number: N/A
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date: 1997
Location: N/A
Plug in those elements, and you have:
#1 Author's last name, first name. #2 Book Title. #7 Publisher, #8 Publication date.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Now, let's try an online news article:
Author: Sudworth, John
Title: “The faces from China's Uyghur detention camps."
Title of container: BBC
Contributor: N/A
Version: N/A
Number: N/A
Publisher: N/A
Publication date: May 2022
Location: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/85qihtvw6e/the-faces-from-chinas-uyghur-detention-camps?utm_source=digg
Access date: Accessed 15 Nov. 2022
#1 Author's last name, first name. "#2 Title." #3 Title of container, #8 Publication date, #9 Location. *Access date.
Sudworth, John. “The faces from China's Uyghur detention camps.” BBC, May 2022, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/85qihtvw6e/the-faces-from-chinas-uyghur-detention-camps?utm_source=digg. Accessed 15 Nov. 2022.
Let's try citing an academic journal article found from an online database. This is tricky! It involves two containers: the journal, and the online database:
Primary Work in First Container
Author: Samatar, Sofia
Title: “Toward a Planetary History of Afrofuturism”
Title of container: Research in African Literatures (journal)
Contributor: N/A
Version: N/A
Number: vol. 48, no. 4
Publisher: N/A
Publication date: 2017
Location: pages 175-191/pp. 175-91
Second Container
Author: N/A
Title: N/A
Title of second container: JSTOR (journal database)
Contributor: N/A
Version: N/A
Number: N/A
Publisher: N/A
Publication date: N/A
Location: https://doi.org/10.2979/reseafrilite.48.4.12
Access Date: Accessed 11 Nov. 2022
#1 Author's last name, first name. "#2 Title." #3 Title of first container, #6 Number, #8 Publication date, #9 Location. #3 Title of second container, #9 Location of work in second container. *Access date.
Samatar, Sofia. “Toward a Planetary History of Afrofuturism.” Research in African Literatures, vol. 48, no. 4, 2017, pp. 175–91. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2979/reseafrilite.48.4.12. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.
An article written by one author and published in a book edited by someone else is formatted differently than a standard book:
Author: Munisi, Nakanyike
Title: “Women and State Formation in Buganda.”
Title of container: Problems in African History
Contributor: edited by Robert O. Collins and Ruth Iyob
Version: 4th edition
Number: N/A
Publisher: Markus Wiener Publishers
Publication date: 2014
Location: pp. 225-235
#1 Author's last name, first name. "#2 Title." #3 Title of container, #4 edited by contributors, #5 Version number, #7 Publisher, #8 Publication date, #9 Location.
Munisi, Nakanyike. “Women and State Formation in Buganda.” Problems in African History: The Precolonial Centuries, edited by Robert O. Collins and Ruth Iyub, 4th ed., Markus Wiener Publishers, 2014, pp. 225-235.
Pretend that you are one of the people in this photograph at the Art Institute of Chicago looking at Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. You collect the following core elements from the placard to the side of the painting:
1. Author: Georges Seurat
2. Title: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
3. Title of container: N/A
4. Contributor: N/A
5. Version: original, so leave blank
6. Number: N/A
7. Publisher: N/A
8. Publication date: painted between 1884-1886
*Medium: oil on canvas
9. Location: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Using these core elements, your citation would be:
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.
MLA used to require that citations for sources like paintings include the medium, or the materials from which the source is made. According to the 9th edition of the MLA handbook, this is now optional. That said, depending on your research, you may decide that it is important to include the medium in the citation. If you do so, put the medium (in this case, oil on canvas) in after #8 Date of publication and before #9 Location:
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.
For more examples of citing images viewed in person, check out the MLA Style Center.
What if, instead of going to the Art Institute, you instead were flipping through the following book at Daley College Library, and found an image of Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte on page 64. What core elements could you collect?
1. Author: Georges Seurat
2. Title: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
3. Title of container: Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision (book title)
4. Contributor: Michelle Foa (author of the container book)
5. Version: original, so leave blank
6. Number: N/A
7. Publisher: Yale University Press
8. Publication date: the painting was made between 1884-86, but the container book was published in 2015
9. Location: original painting is at the Art Institute of Chicago, the printed version is on page 64 of the container book
Now, using these core elements, how would you cite it?
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision, by Michelle Foa, Yale University Press, 2015, p. 64.
If you were instead citing the painting as viewed from an ebook, then you must include the URL (preferably a DOI or permalink) at the end:
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision, by Michelle Foa, Yale University Press, 2015, p. 64, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=1018953&site=eds-live&custid=s9211204.
Remember: if you want to cite painting AND an idea from the book, you should do so separately. Here's how you'd cite just the book:
Foa, Michelle. Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision. Yale University Press, 2015.
For more examples of citing an image from a book, check out the MLA Style Guide.
What if, instead of going to the Art Institute or finding the painting in a book, you instead find it on this website? What would be the core elements?
1. Author: Georges Seurat
2. Title: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
3. Title of container: Joy of Museums Virtual Tours website
4. Contributor: Container website gives no specific contributor name
5. Version: original, so leave blank
6. Number: N/A
7. Publisher: N/A
8. Publication date: Seurat painted the work between 1884-1886, the website version was not posted on a particular date
9. Location: The original is at the Art Institute of Chicago, but the image is at https://joyofmuseums.com/museums/united-states-of-america/chicago-museums/art-institute-of-chicago/a-sunday-afternoon-on-the-island-of-la-grande-jatte/
So, how would you cite it?
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Joy of Museums Virtual Tours, https://joyofmuseums.com/museums/united-states-of-america/chicago-museums/art-institute-of-chicago/a-sunday-afternoon-on-the-island-of-la-grande-jatte/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Although technically optional for MLA, adding the date that you accessed the online item can be a good idea, given that online works can be quickly edited or erased.
Of course, you weren't actually in this image. You instead found this particular photo online, at a site where the photographer provided his name (Kevin Dooley), the title he gave to his photograph (Viewing Seurat), and the date he took it. While it is a photograph of Seurat's painting, there is also a lot more in the picture. The primary creator of this work is not Seurat anymore, but Dooley. What, therefore, are the core elements?
1. Author: Dooley, Kevin
2. Title: Viewing Seurat
3. Title of container: N/A
4. Contributor: N/A
5. Version: N/A
6. Number: N/A
7. Publisher: N/A
8. Publication date: The picture was taken on August 26, 2010
9.Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viewing_Seurat_(5000489105).jpg
How, therefore, would you cite it?
Dooley, Kevin. Viewing Seurat. 26 Aug. 2010, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viewing_Seurat_(5000489105).jpg. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
If you wanted to cite Seurat’s painting through this photograph, then your core elements would be:
1. Author: Seurat, Georges
2. Title: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
3. Title of container: Viewing Seurat
4. Contributor: Kevin Dooley, photographer
5. Version: N/A
6. Number: N/A
7. Publisher: N/A
8. Publication date: The painting was painted between 1884-86, and the picture was taken on August 26, 2010
9. Location: The physical painting is at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, and the photograph is at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viewing_Seurat_(5000489105).jpg
Seurat, Georges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-86, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Viewing Seurat. Photography by Kevin Dooley, 26 Aug. 2010, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viewing_Seurat_(5000489105).jpg. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
You take a picture of this neat-looking leaf. How would you cite it?
1. Author: your name (let's say your name is Johann Dean)
2. Title: It is your photo, so you can give it a formal title (how about Reflecting on Fall?) or a descriptive title (Photograph of a brown autumn leaf). If the title is a description, then it is not italicized.
3. Title of container: N/A
4. Contributor: N/A
5. Version: N/A
6. Number: N/A
7. Publisher: N/A
8. Publication date: Date the photo was taken
9. Location: Location where you took the photo
Dean, Johann. Photograph of a brown autumn leaf. 27 Oct. 2022, Oak Park, IL.
Or, if you decide to give is a formal name:
Dean, Johann. Reflecting on Fall. 27 Oct. 2022, photograph, Oak Park, IL.
That may be how you want to cite your own photograph; if you actually wanted to cite this photograph of a brown leaf, remember that you yourself are getting it from this website! Your citation should be:
Dean, Johann. Photograph of a brown autumn leaf. 27 Oct. 2022, photograph, Oak Park, IL. Humanities: MLA Citation Guide, City Colleges of Chicago Richard J. Daley College, https://researchguides.ccc.edu/hum/citations. Accessed 25 Apr. 2023.
Not all works of art or museum pieces have known authors or even formal titles. If, for example, you go to the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago, photograph this fantastic statue, and decide to cite it, what core elements could you collect?
1. Author: unknown, so leave blank
2. Title: No formal title, but the museum calls it Winged bull (lamassu). Since it is not a formal title but a description, do not italicize it.
3. Title of container: N/A
4. Contributor: N/A
5. Version: original, so leave blank
6. Number: N/A
7. Publisher: N/A
8. Publication date: 8th c. BCE
*Medium: gypsum with restoration
9. Location: The Oriental Institute, Chicago
Using these core elements, your citation would be:
Winged bull (lamassu). 8th c. BCE, Oriental Institute, Chicago. OR
Winged bull (lamassu). 8th c. BCE, gypsum with restoration, Oriental Institute, Chicago.
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