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You know you don't have a real life when . .February 20, 2009   Some women I know dream of Brad Pitt, or George Clooney, or Denzel Washington. My dreams are different. I am dreaming of a 360-page blue book. I've been waiting so long. I want to be able to guide learners in documenting stuff in a way that makes sense for our times. That old silver book drives me crazy. 2003 was eons ago in Web years. I want to update and reformat our confusing style sheet. I have a wiki on the ready to accomodate changes. For the last few nights I've had a recurring dream about the new blue book. The MLA Store says it's coming in April. (BTW, did you know that MLA has a tote bag?) The card in the mail said March. Amazon lists no date, but offers a lovely price of $19.90 for pre-orders. I dream of better ways to handle odd pagination and citing database articles, and blogs, and wikis, and Web docs, and media in a way that doesn't appear quaint and archaic. I dream of not hearing my students say, "you're kidding," after I offer the documentation advice of the standard handbook on the subject. I picture myself opening the box and incorporating those promised changes, because the forthcoming seventh edition is a comprehensive, up-to-date guide to research and writing in the online environment. It provides an authoritative update of MLA documentation style for use in student writing, including simplified guidelines for citing works published on the Web and new recommendations for citing several kinds of works, such as digital files and graphic narratives.The new publication promises to be a handbook for our times, with an access code for an accompanying website that will offer searchable fulltext, two hundred additional examples beyond the book, and sample papers. I dream that I might able to purchase a site license for our students and faculty. Diana Hacker urges undergrads and their instructors to wait for updated handbook, as they follow the old guidelines like those listed in Hacker and Fister's quite wonderful Research & Documentation Online. Hacker does provide what might be a peek at the changes with her 55-page scholarly preview--Hacker Handbooks Supplement--based on MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, Third Edition (2008). (I LOVE their sample papers!) The ever-popular Purdue OWL celebrates the coming changes in the soon-to-be-published Handbook, in its noteworthy changes to look forward to:
Posted by Joyce Valenza Ph.D on February 20, 2009 | Comments (4)
February 21, 2009
In response to: You know you don't have a real life when . . DIane commented: I am shuddering in delight at some of those changes. Students would look at me in shock saying, "they want the whole url?!"
February 21, 2009
In response to: You know you don't have a real life when . . Tom Kaun commented: Like you, Joyce, I've been updating my citation guidelines handout and have developed a slide presentation on the basics of the new style. NoodleBib will also have their site updated ASAP after the official publication of the Handbook. Of course, if you are chomping at the bit, the 3rd ed. of The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing was published last year and incorporates these changes already.
February 22, 2009
In response to: You know you don't have a real life when . . Katy Manck commented: May, you say? We have to wait till May?
March 16, 2009
In response to: You know you don't have a real life when . . Jeanine commented: I just ordered a copy directly from MLA and was able to get access to the companion site. Wow!
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