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Converting Database Information into MLA Format

Abbreviations for Missing Information

Shortening Publisher's Name

Most databases provide bibliographic information for their materials.  Since the researcher could be using any one of a number of different style sheets, the information provided by the database is not usually presented in MLA style.  In many cases, some of the information that is provided is not even used in MLA style, or it is used in a different order.   Sometimes the needed information is missing, and this must be indicated in the Works Cited entry.  The following samples demonstrate how the information supplied by a database can be transformed into MLA style.

Original in a Book

§         Database Information:

Chesler, S. Alan, “Tennessee Williams: Reassessment and Assessment,” in Tennessee Williams: A Tribute, edited by Jac Tharpe, University Press of Mississippi, 1977, pp. 848-80. DISCovering Authors. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Discovering Collection. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. December, 2000. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/DC/

§         MLA Version:

Chester, S. Alan.  “Tennessee Williams: Reassessment and Assessment.”  Tennessee Williams: A Tribute.  Ed. Jac Tharpe.  n.p. :UP of Mississippi, 1977.  848-80.  Rpt. in Discovering Collection.  Farmington Hills, MI: GaleGroup, 2000.  Easton Area High School Lib., Easton, PA.  10 Jan. 2002 <http://galenet. galegroup. com/servlet/DC/>.

   Note: This entry is missing the place of publication.

Original in a Periodical

§         Database Information:

Mueller, William R., “Tennessee Williams: A New Direction?” in The Christian Century, Vol. LXXXI, No. 42, October 14, 1964, pp. 1271-72. DISCovering Authors. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Discovering Collection. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. December, 2000.

http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/DC/

§         MLA Version:

Mueller, William R.  “Tennessee Williams: A New Direction?” The Christian Century 14 Oct. 1964: 1271-72.  Rpt. in Discovering Collection.  Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000.  Easton Area High School Lib., Easton, PA.  10 Jan. 2002 <http://galenet. galegroup.com/ servlet/DC/>.

Original in Non-Print Reference Source

§         Database Information:

“Tennessee Williams.” DISCovering Biography. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in Discovering Collection. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. December, 2000.

http://galenet.galegroup. com/ servlet/DC/.

§         MLA Version:

“Tennessee Williams.”  DICSovering Biography. Gale Research, 1997.  Rpt. in Discovering Collection.  Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2000.  Easton Area High School Lib., Easton, PA.  10 Jan. 2002 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/DC/>.

Original in Print Reference Source

§         Database Information:

Title: "Toni Morrison"

Written by: Susan L. Blake, Lafayette College

Source:  Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 33: Afro-American Fiction Writers After 1955. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book.  Edited by Thadious M. Davis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Trudier Haris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The Gale Group, 1984. pp. 187-199.

Gale Database: Dictionary of Literary Biography

§         MLA Version:

Blake, Susan.  "Toni Morrison." Afro-American Writers after 1955.  Vol. 33 of Dictionary of Literary Biography, 1984.  Rpt. in Dictionary of Literary Biography.  Gale Group, 2002.  Easton Area High School Lib., Easton, PA.  30 Apr. 2002 <http://www.galegroup.com>.

Abbreviations for Missing Information

n.p. = no place of publication; no publisher

n. pag. = no pagination

n.d. = no date of publication

(Samples: p. 37 and p. 40)

Shortening the Publisher’s Name

§         Omit articles (The, An, A) and descriptive words (Books, House, etc.)

§         University Press =  UP (Ohio UP)

§         Person’s Name: use surname only and only 1st surname if more than one (W. W. Norton and Co., Inc = Norton)

§         Use standard abbreviations: Acad., Assn., Soc.

§         If the publisher’s name is commonly abbreviated with caps, use the caps if reader is likely to be familiar with them  (Modern Language Association = MLA)