MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition | Joseph Gibaldi

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition | Joseph Gibaldi | College Book

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MLA Handbook for W...

	MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition Joseph Gibaldi Modern Language Association of America, 2003 - 360 pages average customer review:based on 81 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Since it was first published in 1977, the MLA Handbook has sold nearly four million copies worldwide. Now completely revised and updated, the guide contains detailed information on using computers for research and writing and on citing electronic publications. Features include two-color printing, lie-flat binding, and a complete subject index.

Nice Price

I actually use the APA style book, but getting this for a few dollars, even though it is the 1999 edition, was good as it is printed on very high quality paper and has a unique lie flat binding that works well even though it isn't loose leaf or spiral bound. If you think a copy might be useful, I suggest you give it a try!

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College Book

This book was for a college class that my sister had, and it worked out just fine.

MLA

This handbook is a great thing to own if you are a writer in any way. I purchased it for school at a lower price then the bookstore's price. It helps with correctly writing your papers in school and correctly writing things for work.

The Best of Class

The Modern Language Association has developed a crisp contemporary style with ready application well beyond the realms of modern literature. The style is an evolution of Chicago style. The reference format for the "Works Cited" in MLA-speak, are virtually indistinguishable from those in Chicago-style bibliographies. However, MLA has added a unique parenthetical "author-page" citation to reference sources in the text. This is easy for both scholars and non-scholars alike to comprehend and use, making this a good general-purpose style.

The MLA Handbook does an excellent job of representing the style, though with occasional foibles. These tend to be more a distraction than a nuisance, and are often ignored when the style is used in scholarly publication. For example, there is a marked predisposition for the use of abbreviations in references. This is unnecessary, and can present some rather unsavory phrases when sounded out, such as "U of Chicago P" for University of Chicago Press. Page space is rarely so confined as to make the parsimonious use of letters productive, so many authors and journal editors forgo this frugality. The handbook devotes an entire twenty-page chapter to the topic.

There is a tendency in the handbook expand features beyond their useful application. In the last edition the requirements for presenting quotations was elaborated far beyond the needs of most scholars. This was circumscribed in the current edition, but references to electronic sources were elaborated far beyond their credible application. Such references can have up to fifteen elements! An ephemeral online source cannot be made permanent and credible by elaborating the reference to it, and this appears to be an attempt to do just that. These features, too, can be employed as needed or safely ignored.

Missing from the handbook is any reference to the use of headings and subheadings in research papers. The handbook claims that most instructors discourage their use. However, an informal sampling of articles published in the MLA's own journal, PMLA, found that about half did make use of subheadings. This seems a bit hypocritical, especially in a handbook that gets a mite preachy about plagiarism. Do as I do, do as I say, or what? To be credible the handbook should reflect the style as applied in print.

These criticisms border on the trivial simply because there is nothing else to complain about. At its best, the style employs simple rules. For example, if a number can be written in one or two words write it out. Otherwise use numerals, and always use numerals for precise measures. In contrast, APA (American Psychological Association) style has elaborate rules requiring some small numbers to be written as words, others as numerals. MLA style is free of such exceptions. As long as the style and handbook are approached with a measure of tolerance for its idiosyncrasies, it is easy to use and adequately comprehensive for all the tasks of scholarship. Only if you have delved into other research styles such as APA, AMA (American Medical Association), and Chicago can you appreciate the simplicity of MLA style and the masterly way it has been documented in the handbook. There is elegance in ordered simplicity, and more so than any other research style, MLA style has achieved that elegance.

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Thorough Resource for MLA style

A must have for technical writing, this handbook is a resource that should be at hand for anyone writing for or about research.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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