Citing Your Sources

Attention all students! Finals are just around the corner, and you know what that means. It’s time to put on your thinking caps and get cracking on those papers. When writing a paper, it’s always important to remember to cite your sources. Citing may be a hassle, but it’s the law. Better to take a couple of minutes to cite a source than to skip it and risk a failing grade. Luckily, the library has plenty of resources available to help you cite those pesky sources.

Several citation guides are available for use at the reference desk. Just come on up and ask for one. Here are a few examples of citation guides you can find at the reference desk:

The Everyday Writer offers clear, approachable guidance on how to cite using the MLA, APA, and Chicago styles.


The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the go to source for anything and everything APA style.

The Chicago Manual of Style offers an authoritative and streamlined insight into the Chicago style of documentation.

For those of you who are glued to your computers (who isn’t these days), we have a Cite a Source section on the library’s homepage which provides you with 3 helpful online citation tools:
NoodleBib is one of the most comprehensive and accurate MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian bibliography generators out there. NoodleBib does most of the work for you. All you have to do is enter the correct citation information, sit back, and watch NoodleBib work its magic! For more detailed run through on how to use NoodleBib, check out this Tour.
The Everyday Writer 4^th Edition is an online companion to the print version which can be found at the reference desk.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab, a personal favorite of mine, is a user-friendly APA and MLA style guide that not only provides you with examples, but also offers tips on writing as well.
You can always ask the librarians at the reference desk for assistance with citations. Remember, the best rule of thumb: when in doubt, cite!