Finding books

Finding articles in periodicals

You can consult Astronomy Periodicals in the University Library to eliminate articles which are too difficult.

Finding materials on the World Wide Web

Citing sources in your bibliography

Citing books in your bibliography

This is the simplest case. Nearly all styles require the same information: author(s), title, publisher, publisher's city, and year of publication, although the order may vary. You may cite books in any style which includes all of the above and which is consistent. The title of a book is printed in italics. (Back in the days of typewriters, underlining was used as a substitute for italics, but for most students those days have passed.) Example:

Thorne, Kip S., Black Holes & Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy  (W.W. Norton & Co., New York & London, 1994).

Citing chapters in books with multiple authors

Here the most common error is to omit the name of the author whose work is being cited. Your reader wants to know both the writer whose work you are citing and the name of the editor, which is needed to locate the book. Example:

Cruikshank, Dale P. and David Morrison, "Icy Bodies of the Outer Solar System," in The New Solar System,  3rd ed., J. Kelly Beatty and Andrew Chaikin, eds. (Cambridge University Press and Sky Publishing Co., Cambridge, UK, 1990).

Citing articles in periodicals

The styles used in scientific journals require the inclusion of volume and number, but usually omit titles of articles, while in the humanities and social sciences it may be common to include titles of articles but to omit volume and number. For my courses I am asking you to include both. In addition it is standard practice to include the year of publication. For example:

Parker, Samantha, "Diving into the Lagoon," Sky & Telescope  93, 5, 56-57 (1995).

Citing pages on the world wide web

The purposes of a citation to electronic sources should be the same as with other sources: provide enough information that your reader can find the original source, and give credit (or blame) to the author(s) if known. Please include the following: (1) the author, which in some cases is an institution rather than an individual. In most cases this will be found at the bottom of a web page, occasionally at the top. (2) the full title of the page, which is what you see at the top of your window. For example, the title of this page is Finding and Citing Sources. (3) the full URL of the page cited, which does not mean the path by which you got to that page. You can copy and paste the URL from the Location or Address box. The reader should be able to copy the URL, paste it in after choosing "Open Location" from the File menu of any web browser, and go directly to the page you used. Do not retype URLs. Always copy and paste them to avoid mistakes. (4) the date. Web pages change frequently, so include either the date on the page or the date you read the page or copied it to some other format for later use. (5) In my courses, I am asking you to provide more information with your citation: Add a sentence or two at the end of your citation in which you explain who the author or sponsor of the page is and why you consider this a credible source. Don't tell me what the page is about; tell me why you consider this author or institution believable. Examples:

¹Dr. Jim Lochner and the Imagine! Team, "How Do Galaxies Evolve?"
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/mysteries_l1/galaxies.html (undated, read 2003-03-27)
Part of "Imagine the Universe!," an educational website provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Dr. Nicholas E. White (Director), within the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics (LHEA) at NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center.

²Miller, James, "Quasars and Galactic Evolution"
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~budmil/ (undated, read 1998-09-05)
Part of a student project for a course, SPAC 250, at Rice University.

³Ross, Hugh, "Evidence for Design of the Cosmos"
http://www.wwcw.org//designevid.html (1995, read 2001-03-03)
Part of a website called "World Wide Christian Web: One Layman's Design Argument for the Existence of God," Mark Harpt, editor.

The above style is that used by the Modern Language Association. For other styles and examples of how to cite other electronic media, e.g., CD-ROMs, ftp sites, gopher sites, listserves, etc., see Citation Styles. I will happily accept any style, so long as all of the essential information is provided.

Please note that the web is a wonderful resource which allows anyone to publish anything at almost no cost. This can be both good and bad. It is important to know something about the author or sponsor of a website before deciding whether to accept it as true or even reasonable. Evaluating Web Resources by SSU librarian Paula Hammett can be helpful here.

You should be especially careful and suspicious when using Wikipedia as a source. See, for example, Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation, Seeing Corporate Fingerprints in Wikipedia Edits, and Wikipedia tightens rules after Kennedy flap. The authors of Wikipedia articles are anonymous, and this should always make you suspicious.

Footnotes, endnotes, and inline notes

All of the above is for a bibliography, a complete list of works cited in the preparation of your paper. In addition, a footnote or endnote or inline reference in parentheses is essential whenever you use someone else's words and should also be used when you take a substantial amount of material from one source or make a statement that might be controversial. It must include the page number, although it may simply refer to the bibliography. For example,

Arny, Ref. 6, p. 292.

Do not hesitate to ask library workers or me for assistance. We love to provide it.