Customer Reviews

MLA Handbook For Writers Of Research Papers, 6th Edition (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

With his MLA HANDBOOK, Gibaldi has written one of the best stylebooks for college students. Accessible yet detailed enough to help students navigate tricky issues of citations and format, this book offers excellent advice for writing term papers. The electronic citation section is especially helpful since many style manuals have not been properly updated to embrace contemporary research practices.

This book should be on every college student's shelf. For those already well-versed in MLA style, consider Gibaldi's more advanced MLA STYLE MANUAL AND GUIDE TO SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING.

Knowledge of MLA formatting is a necessity for writing college research papers these days. As an older, part-time college student, I found myself lacking the skills to properly cite information in my papers. Not having time to take an entry level English class, to learn the MLA style, I turned to the MLA Handbook for guidance.

This easy to use book has been a lifesaver! The book is well organized and provides plenty of examples. The table of contents is broken down so well, something that is not common enough in textbooks, that within minutes of picking up the book, you have a concrete example of what you need.

Each section starts with the most basic example of citing from a particular type of work and builds, step-by-step, to a complete citation. The applicable example for entry into the Works Cited Page can be found with ease as well.

If you will be writing research papers, or currently find yourself having difficulty citing, this is a tool you should strongly consider.

"Tight Lines!"
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The MLA is the standard for most literary papers. The book itself is well-formatted and easy to read. It is fairly easy to find what you need except when it is not in the book.

Because of the lapse in time from writing to publication, style requirements change as new forms of information become available. One type of citation I needed was not in the book and I finally had to search for the MLA website. That is the reason I do not give this book 5 stars, they do not list their own website for up-to-date style references. By using the website with the handbook, I find answers to most of my style questions.

For reference, the website is www.mla.org/ Enjoy!

The best parts of this edition of the MLA guide are those that enforce the mechanics of strong writing, though if you're the creative type with unconventional ideas, there is no need to be constrained by these guidelines. Another good section concerns plagiarism, especially the tips on how to avoid both malicious and accidental plagiarism. The guidelines on how to conduct research are better presented elsewhere, while the chapter on how to format a paper is not entirely useful unless you have an assignment that demands that particular type of formatting. Otherwise you will often be free to use a format and construction style of your own choosing. Of course the meat of this guide is the sections on citations and bibliographies, which quite clearly explain the punctuation and mechanics of just about every type of citation imaginable (including new-fangled Internet sources). The only problem is that these sections are difficult to search because of a fuzzy index that sends you to annoyingly demarcated section numbers rather than page numbers. [~doomsdayer520~]

The MLA Handbook is the most useful writing instruction manual available. The handbook's straight-forward English and clear-cut presentation of its contents, will make writing research papers, formal letters and yes, citations, a smooth and swift task. College freshmen and sophomores will be sharpened and formed into skilled and knowledgeable writers. And their anxieties will be consumed by a confidence that no longer fears those dreadful words "research paper." But this does not mean that you should sell it back after you meet your requisites! The MLA handbook is a not something you discard like those odious textbooks that are reprinted and updated every semester. It is a trustworthy handbook there for your literary refinement, always. The MLA handbook should be issued to all incoming students at orientation.

I use this book almost in daily basis. As a graduate student - I write several journal articles and research papers weekly. This book is my primary reference book when I edit the final draft copy. If you are in college - I suggest you should invest the money and get this book - you will need this book many times for proper referencing, quotation, and correct punctuation style.

The MLA (Modern Language Association) style is my preferred style for writing papers - both in terms of citation and in terms of overall format. While I must confess to making small changes (based on my British English background and preference), I still adhere to most of the MLA standards when it comes to putting together research papers.

This is a guide that is useful not only for writing, but also for researching. There is a section that discusses researching both in a library and online. The guide then gives a refresher course in grammar, spelling, sentence and paragraph construction, and other elements of style that are useful in the general academic paper.

By far the most useful part of this guide is the section that shows how to reference in footnotes, endnotes, in-line/in-text citations and proper documentation of sources. While there are few elements due to new media (how does one reference a video on MPG format that doesn't actually reside on a website?) that might not be covered, this guide is fairly comprehensive when it comes to in-print, internet, and other media resources.

For undergraduate students, graduate students, academic writers and general writers, the MLA style is easy to follow, fairly intuitive in approach, and comprehensible even by those not training in such styles.

The MLA Handbook is THE handbook used for writing in high school and colleges across the United States. The APA handbook comes in 2nd place, but it can't stand up to the MLA Handbook. English teachers across the country swear by it, and despite what people might think, English teachers do have a great deal of clout when it comes to writing with the mass populace. There have been a few minor changes that the MLA has made since publishing this edition. Nevertheless, this is the latest edition and until edition 7 comes around, this will be the handbook on writing and researching that tons of students across the country will become familiar. A good resource.

As an English Lit. major in college a MLA Handbook is indispensible, but I was disappointed with this one. I found it difficult to locate the information I needed, often having to comb several pages to find what I was looking for. It is just not convenient to use. I much prefer Diana Hacker's "A Writer's Reference." The layout of her book is much simpler to navigate, and the spiral binding is always a plus, because it lays open on your desk nicely.

I have used this book extensively since I began my Master's degree program, and I have been very pleased with both the content and simplicity of use. Having been out of school for several years, I found myself confused as to how to correctly cite various types of media for a bibliography, but this great book is loaded with examples of how to correctly cite any type of media.

From book citations to internet websites, this book conatins complete chapters along with detailed examples of different citations and how to correctly place them in a bibliography. The text is comprehensive and easy to understand. I have referred to this book numerous times to find a correct citation, and every time I have been able to find an example of the citation I was looking for.

I give this great book my highest recommendation. It is a necessary tool for any student who is required to write a research paper. If you're having trouble finding the correct way to cite items for a bibliography, then check out this great resource. You'll be sure to find what you're looking for inside.