Guide to Locating and Documenting Internet Sources - Part 1
Based upon the MLA and Author-Date-Page Styles

Contents

• How to Copy Text from a Web Site
• How to Copy a Web Address (URL)
• How to Document a Web Source
• Sample Documentation of Web Sources
• How to Locate and Document Information from the Internet

How to Copy Text from a Web Site

If you want to copy text from a Web site and paste that text into your document, follow these steps:

1. Move your pointer to the beginning of the section you wish to copy, click and hold your left mouse button, and drag to the end of the section you wish to copy.
2. Then release the mouse button and click on Edit and Copy.
3. If your word processing program is not already open, follow Steps A and B below to open your word processing program while your Web browser is also open. If your word processing program is already open but minimized, continue with Step 4 below.
   1. Click on the minimize button near the top right side of your Web browser. The button looks like a small minus sign. Your Web browser will appear to be closed, but you will see the name of your browser displayed in a rectangle button on the status bar at the bottom of your screen.
   2. Now either click on the Start button, then Programs, and then the name of your word processing program, or else click on the appropriate icon on your desktop to open your word processing program. Now continue with Step 5 below.
4. Click on your word processing link at the bottom of your screen to return to your word processing program.
5. Move your mouse pointer to the location in your document where you wish to paste the copied text and click your left mouse button. Then click Edit and Paste.
6. At this point you should click your "Show/Hide Paragraph" button (near the 100% view size button) to display the end-of-paragraph marks. You will probably need to delete some of these so that the text you have copied will be properly aligned with the margins of your document.
7. Then be sure to add quotation marks. If your quoted material is more than four lines long, press the Increase Indent button (or click Format and then Paragraph on your menu bar) to change the left indent (the left margin of the paragraph) to .5" to set the long quotation off from the rest of the text. Be sure that you lead into the quotation with a reference to the source from which you borrowed it and that you use a colon if a complete sentence precedes the quotation. This procedure is explained under the heading titled "How to Document a Web Source" below.
8. Note: Not all text that appears on the screen from a Web site can be copied in the method described above. The text may actually be in the form of a graphic image. You can print a copy of the page you are viewing if you follow these steps:
   1. Click on the frame where the image appears. Nothing will appear to happen when you do this, but you must click on the frame to signal to the browser that you want to print this page.
   2. Then click on File and then Print Preview on your menu bar. Wait until you see the image with its text, charts, graphs, etc. appear. If it does not appear, click the Back button on your browser to return to the screen and try clicking on the page again. Then click File/Print Preview. Then you can click Print and print a copy of the document.
   3. You can then read this printed copy at a later time and decide what you want to use in your report.

    

How to Copy a Web Address (URL)

If you are going to provide the correct documentation for information you borrow from a Web site, you will need to type the Web address (also known as URL, universal resource locator) of the site on a references page, bibliography, or works cited page at the end of your research report. Web addresses are often long and complicated, so it is easy to make a mistake copying a Web address. A more effective technique is to use your computer to copy the URL into your word processing document. Follow these steps to record a Web address:

1. Open your word processing program before you begin searching on the Internet.
2. Note: Whenever you type or insert a Web URL address into Microsoft Word® for Office 97®, the URL will automatically be converted to a hypertext link. Once this happens, you will not be able to type angle brackets before or after it. You should turn off this feature before you proceed. Follow Steps a-e below and then continue with Step 3:
   1. Click on "Tools" on the menu bar.
   2. Click on "AutoCorrect."
   3. Click on "Auto Format As You Type."
   4. Deselect "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks."
   5. Click on the OK button. You are now ready to continue with the next step.
3. Click on the minimize button (it looks like a minus sign near the upper right corner of your word processing program), and the Word program will be moved to the status bar at the bottom of your screen.
4. Then open your Web browser. When you locate a source, click the blank space to the right of the Web site address. When the address is highlighted, click Edit and then Copy on your menu bar.
5. Then click on the word processing link at the bottom of your screen (on the status bar), and then click Edit and Paste (or click the Paste button) to insert the address into your Word document.
6. Type the < sign before the URL and the > sign after the URL. If the URL comes at the end of a sentence, or at the end of an entry on a references or works cited page, type a period after the > sign.
7. If you would like to see a video that illlustrates these steps, click on the download link and save the "copyurl.exe" file on your computer. Then click on Start, then Run, and then Browse to find the file on your disk or hard drive. Then click on "copyurl.exe" and Open to view the video. Press the Escape ("Esc") key to end the video or click on the Camcorder logo when the video ends. Download copyurl.exe.

How to Document a Web Source

The findings presented in a research report are based upon information that the researcher has gathered from sources. The researcher uses this information in the report to support a thesis statement and lead to a logical conclusion. Although the Internet is a valuable place to gather information to support a thesis, you must be sure to document the borrowed information correctly according to the following rules.

1. Although different professional associations, such as the MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association) use slightly different styles for documenting borrowed information in a research report, the general guidelines for documenting borrowed information are the same. The remainder of this section on documentation provides further explanation of each of these three guidelines.
   1. Refer to the source of the borrowed information in the text of your report, in much the same way that a news anchor on television refers to a report:
      
      

      According to the United States Justice Department, Microsoft will be required to answer questions about the marketing of its software.
      

   2. After the borrowed information, whether it is a direct quotation or a paraphrase, place a citation to the source in parentheses.
   3. Finally, provide the full reference to the source on a references or works cited page at the end of your report.
2. In the text of your report, lead into the borrowed information with a reference to the source of the information. Then follow that information with a citation inside parentheses after the borrowed information. If you write several sentences in the same paragraph that are either a quotation or a paraphrase from the same source, write the sentences so that the reader can tell that you are still borrowing. Use expressions such as "the author continues to explain," "the author concludes," etc. and then place the citation at the end of the last sentence of borrowed information. If you then begin a new paragraph, you will need to provide a new reference and a new citation, unless you are writing a series of paragraphs that are written so the reader can clearly understand that they are based on the same source. For example, if you state in the first paragraph in the series that your source gives three solutions to a problem and it takes you an entire paragraph to explain the first solution, be sure to begin the next paragraph with a transition expression such as "the next solution Jones proposes is...."
3. If you mention the author's name in the lead-in to the information, the citation includes only the date of the article and the page number if the information came from a book or periodical with page numbers. If you do not use the author's name to lead into your paraphrase or quotation of the borrowed information, then you will need to place in parentheses the author's last name and the date of the article: Example: (Wilson 1996).
4. If the information came from a Web page that does not contain numbered pages, you will not need to use page numbers.
5. If no author is listed for your source, then your citation is to the first word or two of the title of the article, followed by the date. Please note these steps in punctuating a quotation:
   1. When you quote someone and the quotation ends a sentence, place the quotation marks at the end of the quotation.
   2. Then type the beginning parenthesis mark.
   3. Next, type the reference to the source as indicated above.
   4. Then type the closing parenthesis mark.
   5. Finally, type the period marking the end of the sentence.
6. At the end of the report, include a list of references. This page gives the complete bibliographic information for each of the sources that you have cited in your report.
7. The sources are alphabetized by the author's last name. In cases where no author is listed in the publication, then the title of the article or Web page is placed at the beginning.
8. Note: Not all documentation guides or styles require that a date be placed within the parenthetical citation, but all documentation styles require that the date of publication of the borrowed information be placed in the list of references at the end of the report.
9. On your reference page you must type the title of the Web page, then the date of publication if the Web page is a copy of a document that originally appeared in print, then the date of the Internet publication, then the date on which you accessed the Web page to borrow information. Place angle brackets before and after the URL (Web site address), and then a period after the closing angle bracket.
10. The Modern Language Association (http://www.mla.org/set_stl.htm) provides additional guidelines for documenting information borrowed from sources located on the Internet.
11. Please review the samples below that illustrate the preceding documentation rules.

Sample Documentation of Web Sources

The three examples listed in the text box below are taken from The Pepper Spray Controversy by Jayne Heisig. The in-text citations at the end of each paragraph list the date of publication. This format is used by the APA Style and the Author-Date-Page Style. The date of publication is not required in the in-text citation by the MLA Style. On the references page, the MLA requires that all words be capitalized except for the articles (a, an, the) and conjunctions and prepositions fewer than five letters, except when they are used as the first word of a title or first word after a colon. The APA and Author-Date-Page Styles require that only the first word of a title be capitalized, with the exception of proper nouns such as a person's name or a trademark name.

Example One

Sample in-text citation to information from a printed source with an author, reprinted on a Web page

According to CovertAction Quarterly, pepper spray has been involved in at least 60 US deaths, and a North Carolina coroner issued the first autopsy report connecting pepper spray to an in-custody death (Wilson 1996).

Sample works cited or references page entry

Wilson, Lynne. "Pepper Spray Madness." CovertAction
          Quarterly. Spring 1996. 2 July 1998.
          <http://caq.com/CAQ56pepper.html>.

Explanation of citation and works cited or references entry

The author of the research report has paraphrased information from her source, so she refers to the periodical where the article was printed as she leads into her borrowed information. She refers to the periodical rather than to the author to add variety to her report. Then in her citation she uses the author's last name because that name is the first word of her entry on her references page. She lists the date because she is using the author-date-page number style of documentation required in her course. This date is not required in the MLA style. She does not add page numbers because the Web page where she located the article does not use page numbers. Notice the use of the hanging indent in her references page entry. How to create a hanging indent is explained in Creating Outlines and Bibliographies Using Microsoft Word®.

Sample in-text reference to information from a printed source without an author, reprinted on a Web page

Some call it a form of torture as they feel officers are spraying when the situation does not call for it ("Justifying" 1997).

Sample works cited or references page entry

"Justifying Torture." Editorial. San Francisco Examiner. 16
          Nov. 1997. Non-violent Pepper Spray Victims
          Homepage. 5 July 1998.
           <http://www.peppersprayvictims.org/exed161197.html>.

 

Explanation of citation and works cited or references entry

The author of the research report makes a general reference to borrowed information to lead into her paraphrase, and then she uses the first word of the title of her source in her citation, followed by the date required by her professor. She does not add page numbers because the Web page where she located the article does not use page numbers. Notice the use of the hanging indent in her references page entry. How to create a hanging indent is explained in Creating Outlines and Bibliographies Using Microsoft Word®.

Sample in-text reference to information from a Web page with no author or pages

Pepper spray, a substance that is used by law enforcement officials to help them subdue violent individuals, has been on the market for over twenty years, according to a recent Internet article ("Pepper Spray" 1998).

Sample works cited or references page entry

Pepper Spray. 15 May 1998. 2 July 1998.
          <http://www.island.net/-gali/980515.htm>.

Explanation of citation and works cited or references entry

The author of the research report varies her writing style by including the reference to her borrowed material at the end of the paraphrase rather than the beginning. The parenthetical citation is to the title of the source. That source name is written in italics (or it could be underlined) because it is a solitary source, not an article in a longer publication as you see above in the first example. She does not add page numbers because the Web page where she located the article does not use page numbers. Notice the use of the hanging indent in her references page entry. How to create a hanging indent is explained in Creating Outlines and Bibliographies Using Microsoft Word®.

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