Citation Clarification

An email came through from the National History Day office last week that I thought I should share with everyone. It is about citing sources in History Day bibliographies. Here's the text:

A Note on Accepted Styles for NHD Projects

The two accepted styles for citations and bibliographies in NHD projects are:
1. Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
2. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

Whichever style students choose to use, it is important that they remain consistent with that style throughout their NHD project and bibliography. It is also important that they remain consistent to whichever edition of that style they are using. While the NHD Rule Book indicates the 5th edition of the MLA guide, students are allowed to use the 5th edition and any edition coming after it (6th and 7th). However, they must be consistent and only use one edition.

Changes in MLA’s New 7th edition
It has been brought to our attention that some of the changes in the new 7th edition of the MLA handbook, published in 2009, are quite different from previous editions; which could cause confusion for students, teachers and judges. A few examples of these changes include:
- URLs are no longer required for citations of web sources
- For each citation, it is required to indicate what type of source it is by placing the medium of publication at the end of the citation; “Print,” “Web,” “Film,” “Personal Interview,” etc.

There is a good website that highlights the main points of the new MLA 7th edition: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/.

All History Day judges will be informed of these changes so they do not unfarily penalize a student for using the most recent MLA edition. However, students should remember that judges are most concerned with looking for consistency within the projects and bibliographies.

Don't forget: students can still use the Turabian style (which is preferred by historians). They do not have to use the new MLA guide.