JCUS Library MLA Citation Handbook

Table of Contents:
Sample MLA Paper
How do I denote a title within a title?
How do I cite a YouTube Video or TED Talk Video
How to cite a film/TV show
How to cite song lyrics
Citing ebooks
Unusual In-Text Citations
Writing a citation by hand within a NoodleTools project
Purdue Owl’s Sample MLA Paper
More FAQ’s answered on the MLA website
 How to denote a title within a title in the “article”
section of NoodleTools?
(This only works for Journal titles. Book titles will be in ALL italics anyway.)

Use the title tags around the title – [title] [/title]

Example:
Article title - Individual and Society in Anthem
Type in:
Individual and Society in [title]Anthem[/title]
Results will show:
Individual and Society in Anthem
 How do I cite a YouTube or TED Talk Video?
MLA doesn’t currently prescribe a style for YouTube, but based on
other standards, this seems the most likely acceptable format:
Writing by hand:
Author’s Name or Poster’s Username. “Title of Image or Video.”
Media Type. Name of Website. Name of Website’s Publisher,
date of posting. Medium. Date retrieved.

Youtube Example:
Smith, Matt. “Tardis Takes off for Holiday Festivities.” Online video
clip. YouTube. YouTube, 22 Dec. 2013. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

TED Talk Example:

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. "The Danger of a Single Story."
TEDGlobal 2009. July 2009. TED. Web. 19 Feb.
2016.

Using NoodleTools:
Choose Website>Video Clip (Online)
 How to cite a film/TV show
Writing by hand:
To cite a movie as a while, the director name is a good choice for
the “author/creator” section:
Last name, first name, director. Movie Title. Production Co Name,
year.
If your discussion involves a contribution of a particular person,
cinematography, performer, screenwriter, than you should use that
person’s name.
Example:
Last name, First name, role. TV Series Title. Production Company
Name, Year.
Whedon, Joss, creator. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mutant Enemy,
1997-2003
Gellar, Sarah Michelle, performer. Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Mutant Enemy, 1997-2003.
Using NoodleTools:
 TV Show seen on TV live
Choose Viewed/heard live>Television Program
 TV Show seen online
Choose Website>Television Program
 A video clip of a TV Show posted on YouTube
Choose Website>Video Clip (Online)
 For a complete film, originally in theatres or published on DVD
Choose Website>Film or Video Recording
 How to Cite Song Lyrics
The way you cite song lyrics will vary depending on how you access them
and how much information you include in the body of your essay.

If you cite song lyrics from a CD you listened to, you might simply refer to
the song in your essay:

“You say you got a real solution,” the Beatles sing in “Revolution 1.”
You can then provide a works-cited-list entry for the album that contains
the song. Follow the MLA format template: list the name of the performer
or band as the author, the name of the album as the title of the source, the
publisher, and the date. In the optional-element slot at the end of the entry,
list the format:

From the album

Beatles. The Beatles. EMI Records, 1968. CD.
If you cite song lyrics from a booklet accompanying the CD, list a
description in the “Title of source” slot and the name of the album as the
title of the container:

Beatles. Booklet. The Beatles, EMI Records, 1968.

From a website

Provide a description in place of the title. Then provide the name of the
Web site, publication information for the site, and the URL:

Beatles. Lyrics to “Revolution 1.” Genius, 2017, genius.com/The-beatles-

revolution-i-lyrics.
Adapted from MLA Website Published 11 October 2017

Using NoodleTools
There really isn’t a good option for song lyrics, so if you found it on a website, choose
Website>webpage then choose “copy & paste a citation” and write the citation in the
box using the directions above. This is a neat trick to enable you to write a citation by
hand when using NoodleTools for a project.
 Citing ebooks

Ebook from Gutenberg or other free/public domain source format,

including Nook/Kindle:
Author. Book Title. Place of publication for original print version: Publisher
of print version, Year of publication of print version (if available).
Source. Medium of publication. Date of access.
In NoodleTools, Choose >Book, then >eBook File.

Example:
Mortimer, Favell. Far Off. New York, 1852. Project Gutenberg. Web. 5 Apr.
2005.
 In-Text Citations (Parentheticals) Questions and Examples
An ebook with no page numbers or varying page numbers (depending on
the eReader):
(Smith, Ch. 2)
An Internet source with no page numbers:
(Smith)
No author- use first item in Works Cited entry:
American Management Association. Best Ways to Create Good Managers.
New York: Greenhaven, 2011.
(Amer. Management Assn 2)  abbreviate common words to shorten the
citation.

A citation with more than one author:

If two or three names begin your list, give the last name of each person
listed
(Hill, Wiley, and Elliott 234)
If more than three authors, follow the form in the bibliographic entry, which
means either the first author followed by et al
(Hill et al. 25-30)
Or list all names
(Hill, Wiley, Boyd, Elliott, Valenstein, Gowen, and Creviston 100-12)
 Writing a citation by hand within a NoodleTools project
This is a neat workaround to enable you to write one citation by hand when using
NoodleTools for a project.
First choose where you found your source (print, online, database, etc.)
When the page opens up choose “copy & paste a citation” and write the citation in the
box. Make sure the citation is accurate, since NoodleTools is unable to check
manually written citations.

Updated 11/22/19