MLA Handbook

I teach college writing at both graduate and undergraduate levels, and I just finished writing a short tutorial to explain to students how to use the new MLA guidelines to cite and document sources. In my opinion, the 8th edition finds a nice balance. The basic elements and principles of a citation are easy to explain and straightforward to demonstrate. There are plentiful examples that students can look at and model. The book proceeds from basic principles and elements of citations, to details of style, to special cases. There are clear and useful guidelines that students can apply to different types of sources they may find in print and online. The container model is brilliant because it accounts for the fact the the same source may appear in different media and contexts. In the old edition, a Kindle edition, a Nook edition, and a printed book would all be cited differently. Now, a book is a book--the device of consumption is less important than the core information about the source. We've moved from a scavenger-hunt to a more realistic process of critical thinking. I find the new style to be considerably more efficient and flexible to teach from. I want students thinking critically about the sources they use and the context in which they use them, not flipping pages looking for the exact same type of source so that they can copy the format. The new MLA is exactly what a style guide should be--a flexible set of guidelines, not a straitjacket.

I got this MLA Handbook for a class and it’s exactly what I needed. It’s straightforward, easy to follow, and covers all the formatting rules without overcomplicating things. It’s also pretty cheap for a textbook, which is nice since I only needed it for assignments and reference. Definitely not something I’d read cover to cover, but it works perfectly for class.

As a college composition instructor, I dutifully bought my new edition of the MLA handbook when it came out. When it arrived, I was completely caught off guard with how small it was. As I scanned it, I felt lost. But then I read the introduction that explains the reasoning for the drastic changes and decided to embrace them in the new semester of my classes "just to see" if maybe it was better than my tattered 7th edition. My conclusion: the MLA has finally produced a MODERN handbook for citation. I have been able to reduce the number of classes devoted to the religion that MLA format had become. No longer are students expected to memorize hundreds of nuanced rules for the single correct "citation" format that applies to a certain source. Reduced are the questions about what to do with a complex source or a source type that previous versions of the MLA handbooks hadn't addressed. This version reduced the 300 page bloated handbook to about a hundred pages by giving a conceptual framework that can accommodate any source, including sources that haven't been invented yet. The emphasis has changed from emulating one of the hundreds of examples in previous editions to following a single formula that fits onto a single page and can be projected in front of the class. The formula works for print sources, websites, social media, anything! Dozens of MLA PowerPoint slides have been sent to my computer's recycle bin! I know that many of my colleagues are outraged by the changes in this edition, and change is hard--especially when it comes to something as dogmatically ingrained into the composition profession as MLA format. My first take was also one of irritation, but after integrating it into my classes this semester, teaching of MLA has not been the general nightmare of blank stares that it used to be; it is now an interactive process that engages students into thinking about how to characterize their sources instead of trying to "get the right answer." I can spend more time on how to use those sources effectively in their writing, and I'd much rather work on that then where to place a period or the difference between journals that are continuously paginated or not. Yes, this takes a lot of getting used to, but it is long overdue. The academic tradition of citation has not kept up with a world where information comes in hundreds of forms and delivery methods. The new MLA format abolishes the arcane fervor and zealotry that accompanied older versions of MLA in the academy. For that I am grateful.

"They're trying to make money." I received this comment immediately upon announcing to my colleagues that MLA was updating its handbook. The assumption of financial gain proved unfounded. The change in the title—the removal of the superfluous "for Writers of Research Papers"—symbolizes the general tendency of this volume to simplify and slenderize. The page count alone testifies to this change, from 292 to 160 pages. The loss of pulp and ink inaugurates a new pedagogical approach to documenting sources. Rather than treating sources as belonging to particular categories for which there exists a singular format, the MLA Handbook now presents a single unifying and flexible framework for citing the diverse sources that exist in today's multifaceted media age. Whether citing Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Masque of the Red Death" accessed through the HathiTrust Digital Library, Sarah Michelle Geller's performance in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or a tweet from @persiankiwi in Iran during the Arab Spring—all of these sources serve as examples in the text—a single set of nine core elements provide the framework for identifying and organizing the relevant information for documentation. These general principles of citation, part 1 of the MLA Handbook, replace a long and complicated labyrinth of instructions where students frequently got lost, and understandably so. A set of prescriptive guidelines regarding the mechanics of prose, advanced aspects of the works-cited list, and a brief section about non-print modes of citation follow in part 2. These two sections of the book helpfully cross-reference each other and themselves. Students will find the resulting product much easier to navigate, interpret, and apply to their writing than anything they had previously. With all of these changes, little about the MLA style of citation has fundamentally changed. Notably, MLA now recognizes that in most cases the city of publication holds little relevance to readers. It now functions as an optional element, particularly for books published before 1900. Furthermore, the handbook reverses the prescription added in the previous edition of the MLA Handbook that each entry in the works-cited should indicate the medium of publication. Many sources, especially digital ones, still indicate their online provenance through digital containers (e.g., HathiTrust Digital Library) or digital location markers (i.e., URLs and DOIs). A common reference to a printed edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet no longer requires the superfluous "Print" at the end. Admittedly, the 8th edition has also slimmed down because instructions that used to be printed within its covers—page margins, headings, outlining instructions, gender-inclusive language, etc.—are now relegated to a new website, rendering the MLA Handbook essentially a citation guide and not a full style guide. This decision will undoubtedly upset some, but it makes the printed handbook less formidable to students and more singularly useful. The only change that bothers me is the loss of online access to the full-text of the handbook. The 7th edition came with a unique code that allowed consumers to set up an online account with access to the full text of the handbook. This online resource enhanced the utility of the handbook. Whether I had the printed copy of the handbook with me while grading, I nearly always had access to its content. The 7th edition was published in 2009, a year before the release of Apple's first iPad. The increased popularity of tablets and their widespread use among students and in educational institutions likely explains the reason the 8th edition does not automatically come with digital access. While I understand this change, it negatively impacts my reliance on universal access to the MLA Handbook, and for that reason, I cannot give this 8th edition five full stars. My colleague suspected financial motivations for the release of a new edition of the MLA Handbook. Ironically, this new pedagogical approach, if it proves successful, will make it difficult for MLA to justify publishing a ninth edition for many years to come!

I've been a user of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers since 1980 and wrote my MA thesis at Lakehead University following the guidelines. I'm well familiar with the traditional title, format and material/contents of the book and feel very comfortable using the original traditional title up to its 7th edition (after which the title has changed). Changes in the title, author name and format: However, the 8th and 9th editions do not include the full traditional title (MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers); it uses a shortened title, only the first two words (MLA Handbook) . Second, the original author Joseph Gibaldi's name was discontinued in the editions after the 6 edition. I wonder if there's any justification for the discontinuation. Finally, the 8th edition looks like a summarized version and follows a different structure and approach to presenting the same principles of documentation. I'm trying to get used to this approach. I wonder if the original title (MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers) and format could be continued. Prof. Dr. Solaiman Ali (retired) Bloomington, IL

Excellent

This is a well-designed book with lots of good examples for creating footnotes from modern-day sources: blogs, online videos, internet sites, etc. Easy to follow, color-coded, clear writing. So why only 3 stars? Read on. I went to university in the 90's. At that time, research papers required footnotes and a bibliography, and the entries for each were slightly different. I guess these terms have gone out of style, as the MLA book now refers to "works cited". I think "works cited" is the new term for footnotes, but the book does not make that clear. And the book says nothing about bibliographies - there are no examples showing how a "work cited" differs from a bibliography (or "selected sources") entry. I was disappointed that the book neglected this topic.

These are much easier to access than the complete MLA guides. As a former English teacher and editor, I like the complete handbook, but it is a bit overwhelming for the young. I have gifted this guide to a high school senior and a college freshman, who liked it better than the thick manual. I also like the Chicago Manual of Style.