A BRIEF CITATION GUIDE FOR INTERNET SOURCES IN HISTORY AND THE HUMANITIES

by
Melvin E. Page
<pagem@etsuarts.east-tenn-st.edu>
for
H-AFRICA <h-africa@msu.edu>
Humanities-on-Line
and
History Department
East Tennessee State University

The following suggestions for citations of Internet sources in history and the historically based humanities are derived from the essential principles of academic citation in Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 5th ed. (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1987). I have also drawn upon suggestions from some of the works listed below. The guide has been improved by the the students of my Historical Methods classes at East Tennessee State University and my fellow H-AFRICA editors whom I thank for their assistance. Since the Internet is an evolving institution, this guide is not intended to be definitive. Corrections, additions, comments, suggestions, and criticisms are therefore welcome. Please address them to the author at:

When the need for revisions and updates become apparent, new versions of the guide will be issued.

Bibliographic Citations

Basic citation components and punctuation

Author's Last Name, First Name. [author's internet address, if
 	available]. "Title of Work" or "title line of message." In
 	"Title of Complete Work" or title of list/site as appropriate. 
	[internet address]. Date, if available.

The samples below indicate how citations of particular electronic sources might be made.

• Listserv Messages
  

  Walsh, Gretchen. [gwalsh@acs.bu.edu]. "REPLY: Using African
  	newspapers in teaching." In H-AFRICA. [h-africa@msu.edu].
  	18 October 1995. 
  

  
  
  
• World Wide Web
  

  Limb, Peter. "Relationships between Labour & African Nationalist/ 
  	Liberation Movements in Southern Africa." [http://neal.ctstateu.
  	edu/history/world_history/archives/limb-l.html]. May 1992.
  

  
  
  
• FTP Site
  

  Heinrich, Gregor. [100303.100@compuserve.com]. "Where There Is 
  	Beauty, There is Hope: Sau Tome e Principe." [ftp.cs.ubc.ca/
  	pub/local/FAQ/african/gen/saoep.txt]. July 1994. 
  

  
  
  
• Gopher Site
  

  "Democratic Party Platform, 1860." [wiretap.spies.com Wiretap Online 
  	Library/civic & Historical/Political Platforms of the U.S.] 
  	18 June 1860.
  
  
  
  Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. "Making Difference." [gopher.uic.edu 
  	The Researcher/History/H-Net/H-Amstdy (American Studies)/Essays & 
  	Discussions About American Studies]. 20 July 1995. 
  

  
  
  
• Usenet Group Messages
  

  Dell, Thomas. [dell@wiretap.spies.com]. "[EDTECH] EMG: Sacred Texts 
  	(Networked Electronic Versions)." In [alt.etext]. 4 February 
  	1993.
  
  
  Legg, Sonya. [legg@harquebus.cgd.ucar.edu]. "African history book 
  	list." In [soc.culture.african]. 5 September 1994. 
  

  
  
  
• E-mail Messages
  

  Page, Mel. [pagem@etsuarts.east-tenn-st.edu]. "African dance...and
  	Malawi." Private e-mail message to Masankho Banda, [mbanda@igc.
  	apc.org]. 28 November 1994.
  

Footnote and Endnote Citations

Basic citation components and punctuation

	<note number> Author's First name and Last name, [author's
internet address, if available], "Title of Work" or "title line 
of message," in "Title of Complete Work" or title of list/site as 
appropriate, [internet address], date if available.

The examples below indicate how citations of particular electronic sources might be made.

• Listserv Messages
  

  	<1> Gretchen Walsh, [gwalsh@acs.bu.edu], "REPLY: Using African 
  newspapers in teaching," in H-AFRICA, [h-africa@msu.edu], 18 October 
  1995. 
  

  
  
  
• World Wide Web
  

  	<2> Peter Limb, "Relationships between Labour & African 
  Nationalist/Liberation Movements in Southern Africa," [http://neal. 
  ctstateu.edu/history/world_history/archives/limb-l.html], May 1992.
  

  
  
  
• FTP Site
  

  	<3> Gregor Heinrich, [100303.100@compuserve.com], "Where There Is 
  Beauty, There is Hope: Sao Tome e Principe," [ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/
  local/FAQ/african/gen/saoep.txt], July 1994.
  
  
  	<4> Sonya Legg, [legg@harquebus.cgd.ucar.edu], "African history 
  book list," in [soc.culture.african], 5 September 1994.
  

  
  
  
• Gopher Site
  

  	<5> "Democratic Party Platform, 1860," [wiretap.spies.com
  Wiretap Online Library/civic & Historical/Political Platforms of the 
  U.S.], 18 June 1860.
  
  
  	<6> Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, "Making Difference,"
  [gopher.uic.edu The Researcher/History/H-Net/H-Amstdy (American
  Studies)/Essays & Discussions About American Studies], 20 July 1995.
  

  
  
  
• Usenet Group Messages
  

  	<7>Thomas Dell, [dell@wiretap.spies.com] "[EDTECH] EMG: Sacred 
  Texts (Networked Electronic Versions)," in [alt.etext], 4 February 
  1993.
  

  
  
  
• E-Mail Messages
  

  	<8> Mel Page, [pagem@etsuarts.east-tenn-st.edu], "African
  dance...and Malawi," private e-mail message to Masankho Banda,
  [mbanda@igc.apc.org], 28 November 1994.
  

Additional Source Material on Internet Citations

Dodd, Sue A. "Bibliographic References for Computer Files in the 
	Social Sciences: A Discussion Paper." [gopher://info.monash.
	edu.au:70/00/handy/cites]. Revised May 1990. {Published in 
	*IASSIST Quarterly*, 14, 2(1990): 14-17.}

Li, Xia and Nancy Crane. *Electronic Style: A Guide to Citing
	Electronic Information*. Westport: Meckler, 1993.

University of Chicago Press *Chicago Guide to Preparing Electronic
	Manuscripts: for Authors and Publishers*. Chicago: University
	of Chicago Press, 1987.

Walker, Janice R. "MLA-Style Citations of Internet Sources."
	[http://www.cas.usf.edu/english/walker/janice.html]. 
	April 1995.

version 1.1                               30 October 1995

This document may be reproduced and redistributed, but only in its entirety and with full acknowledgement of its source and authorship.

 

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