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MLA Bibliography Citation Guide

This guide provides information on using a citation from the MLA Bibliography to find material in the University Library. A citation found through MLA only tells you that the item exists somewhere. The next step is to determine whether that resource is available to you through the University Library. The three most common citations you'll find in the MLA Bibliography are Citations to Journal Articles, Citation to Book Articles, and Citations to Dissertations.

Citations to Articles in Journals


Hotz, Mary Elizabeth. 'Taught by Death What Life Should Be': Elizabeth Gaskell's Representation of Death in North and South   Studies in the Novel. 32(2):165-84. 2000 Summer. Denton, TX

Ruth, Jennifer. Mental Capital, Industrial Time, and the Professional in David Copperfield  Novel-A Forum on Fiction.32(3):303-30. 1999 Summer. Providence, RI

Gerard, Bonnie. Victorian Things, Victorian Words: Representation and Redemption in Gaskell's North and South   Victorian Newsletter. 92:21-24. 1997 Fall. Bowling Green, KY


You will need to know the journal title, the volume, date, and page numbers to find the particular article you need.  In these examples,  the Hotz article is in volume 32, issue number 2 of the journal Studies in the Novel, which was published in the year 2000.  The article is on pages 165-184.

Similarly, the Gerard article is in volume 92 of the journal Victorian Newsletter, published in 1997.  The article is on pages 21-24.

To find articles, look in the English Library Periodical List under the title of the journal. If the journal is not in the Periodical List, you can search for it in the Online Catalog under the title.

Citations to Chapters in Books


Gallagher, Catherine. Family and Society in Hard Times St. Martin's. New York, NY; 171-96. 1995

Book Citation
David Copperfield and Hard Times. Peck, John (ed. and introd.).


To find books, look in the Online Catalog under the author or the title of the book. In this example, you would search under Peck, John as an author/editor, or, David Copperfield and Hard Times as the title.

Citations to Dissertations


Dodwell, Karen Kay. Making Room: The Production of Fictional Space in the Novels of Gaskell, Eliot, and Oliphant.  Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A (Humanities and Social Sciences). 59(7):2518-19. 1999 Jan. Ann Arbor, MI


This citation is to the ABSTRACT or summary of the dissertation that is published in Dissertation Abstracts. The Library makes virtually every dissertation deposited since 1997 available through Digital Dissertations. Other dissertations can usually be obtained through InterLibrary Loan.



Guide Created by Kathleen Kluegel


University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

English Library
321 Library
1408 W. Gregory Dr.
Urbana, Illinois 61801
(217) 333-2220
Comments to: Kathleen M. Kluegel

Updated: 14 October, 2004 gtr
Guide is for MLA via Ovid, at the University of Illinois