How to Write a Proper Bibliography

What is a Bibliography
A bibliography is a list of books, articles, and other sources you use when researching a topic and writing a paper. The bibliography will appear at the end of your paper, on a separate page.  The bibliography is sometimes called Works Cited

Why Do I Need a Bibliography
If a writer uses someone else’s work and does not give them credit this is called plagiarism. This is considered cheating and at all post secondary institutions this means the work is given a grade of zero and the student is often asked to leave the school (with no refund!)

How Do I Create a Bibliography
Bibliography entries must be written in a very specific format, but that format will depend on the particular style of writing you are using. Your teacher will tell you which style to use.

In our CatPack courses we will use what is known as the MLA style of bibliography.

Typical Format for MLA Bibliography:
Here is what a typical MLA bibliography looks like.  If you cannot find some of this information cite what is available.   If you have multiple resources they are listed in alphabetical order.

Author’s last name, first name. Title of work.  Title of website.
Date of publication or of the latest update. Date you looked at it.  <Full url>.

Here’s an example for a good website about medieval knights.  The page gives no information about a author (the person who wrote the articles), or when it was written (date of publication) so that information is omitted.

“Medieval Knights.” Medieval Knights. Web. 2 June 2015. <http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-knights/>.

Other Examples: (note the citations are in alphabetical order):

Dove, Rita. “Lady Freedom Among Us.” University of Virginia Library. University of Virginia, 1993. Web. 2 June 2015. <http://www.lib.virginia.edu/etext/fourmill/DovLady.html>.

Krahn, Brian. “Ocean Species Set for Reshuffle Unseen in 3 Million Years.” Climate Central, 1 June 2015. Web. 2 June 2015. <http://www.climatecentral.org/news/ocean-warming-species-change-19051>.

Online Bibliography Tool
There are many different online bibliography creators.  The one that we will be recommending is:  www.bibme.org