Transcript[]
Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby
Moby is sitting at a desk typing on his laptop. The screen changes to show the first page of a report he is writing. The title reads: Dawn of the Planet of the Bots, by Moby Carissian." He begins typing the first sentence, which reads: "By the year 2050, robots will take over Planet Earth." Tim is reading over his shoulder.
TIM: Hmm, that’s a pretty bold statement.
Moby closes his laptop a bit to prevent Tim fro
TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, I'm almost done with my social studies report, but I still need to write a bibliography. Can you help me out? From, Lars. Sure thing, Lars. While researching your report, you probably consulted different sources. Books, articles, websites, journals, videos - all the places you looked to figure out what you were going to write about.
An animation shows a book, a smart phone, a tablet, and a laptop.
TIM: A bibliography is just a detailed list of those sources. You include it at the end of a report on its own page, titled "Bibliography."
An image shows a paged titled "Bibliography" with text and icons representing the various types of sources mentioned by Tim.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: An effective research paper doesn't just repeat information from your sources. It presents your own perspective on the topic, with original ideas and analysis. And maybe even proposes some brilliant new argument!
An animation shows an equation with images: Moby's head plus a tablet, book, and smart phone equals a research paper. The research paper transforms into a lightbulb.
TIM: But whatever you end up writing came in part from your research. A good report combines what you take from sources with your own insights.
An animation shows Moby in a library, surrounded by books. He is reading two books at a time. Suddenly, he stands up in excitement. A light bulb appears over his head.
TIM: A bibliography is a way to credit the people who helped shape those conclusions.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Well, relying on other people's work without crediting them is basically stealing.
An animation shows the equation from before. The tablet, book, and smart phone disappear, leaving this equation: Moby's head equals lightbulb.
TIM: It's called plagiarism, and it's wrong even if you do it by accident!
A large red "F" appears in front of Moby. He frowns and bows his head in shame.
TIM: But citing sources isn't just about staying out of trouble. It's about showing how you came up with your ideas. And demonstrating that you made the effort to research your subject.
An image shows the lightbulb as part of an electric circuit that also connects Moby's head and a battery labeled "sources."
TIM: It also shows respect to everyone whose work helped inspire you.
The words "Thank You" appear inside the lightbulb.
TIM: Plus, some readers might want to find out more about your topic. A bibliography lets them know where they can start their own research!
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: There are actually several sets of guidelines for formatting citations.
An image shows three books, titled: "The Chicago Manual of Style," "The APA Manual," and "The MLA Handbook."
TIM: But we only have to know the Modern Language Association, or MLA, guidelines. That's what most schools and teachers prefer.
The image zooms in on the MLA Handbook.
TIM: With MLA, you use the same format for all sources, no matter what they are. It's basically a list of standard details that apply to most sources.
The MLA Handbook opens. The words Author, Version, Title, Number, Container, Publisher, Other contributors, Publication date, and Location fly out of the pages.
TIM: They always appear in this specific order.
The words arrange themselves in a vertical list, in this order: Author, Title, Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location. The words rearrange themselves as a generic citation with three horizontal lines: Author, Title, Container, and Other contributors in the first line; Version, Number, Publisher, and Publication date in the second line; and Location in the third line.
TIM: But some of the details will change depending on the source.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Well, let's take this article you found online. Start with the author: last name, comma, then first.
In the generic citation from before, "Author" is replaced by "Droid, Anne."
TIM: The title, which for an article goes in quotes.
In the generic citation, "Title" is replaced by "The Bot Plot."
TIM: Container is just what it sounds like. It's the thing that contains the source, and it's always italicized. In this case, it's the name of the website that's hosting it.
In the generic citation, "Container" is replaced by "Wires Magazine."
TIM: Websites might also be the container for videos or interviews. The same way an encyclopedia is the container for its various entries. Or an album would be the container if you referenced any of its songs.
Three images appear onscreen: the video playing on the Wires Magazine website; an encyclopedia; and a song playing on a smart phone music app.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Sometimes, multiple people may have helped create a source. You'd credit them in the under "Other contributors" section.
In the generic citation from before, "Other contributors" is replaced by "additional reporting by Cy Borg."
TIM: If a source had a translator or editor, they'd also be listed here, too. Version might refer to a specific edition of a book, like if it was originally published in another language. If your source were a song, the version might be a remix. If it were a movie, it could be the director's cut of a movie. Wires Magazine has only one edition, so we can just lose this section.
In the generic citation, "Version" disappears. The other words move up, and the citation is now only two lines.
TIM: Number is for sources that are broken up into multiple parts. If you were citing a TV show or podcast, you'd mention the episode number here. Many journals and magazines are labeled with a volume and issue number. This article appears in volume 6, issue 22 of Wires.
In the generic citation, "Number" is replaced by "vol. 6, no. 22."
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Oh, for magazines and websites, a lot of times the publisher is the same as the name of the publication. When that happens, you can skip that part too.
In the generic citation, "Publisher" disappears.
TIM: Publication date is always written: day, month, year, with no commas between.
In the generic citation, "Publication date" is replaced by "29 May 2017."
TIM: And location should state where exactly you found the source. With books and paper magazines, it's usually a page number. But for a website, like our source, it would be the full URL.
In the generic citation, "Location" is replaced by "www.wiresmagazine.net/science/botplot."
TIM: Now we just indent any lines that follow the first one, and… voila! In the generic citation, the second line is indented.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Yup - the template always stays the same. We can use it for any and all sources we need to reference. Although like I said, some of the punctuation and other details will change, depending on the source. Then, we just alphabetize the entries by the last name of the author.
An image shows a bibliography page with four citations that are not in alphabetical order. The citations rearrange themselves into the correct order.
TIM: And boom! There's our bibliography.
The word "Bibliography" appears above the citations, at the top of the page.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: There are other types of citations you might need to use as you get older. Footnotes appear at the bottom of a page. And endnotes are listed at the conclusion of a specific section. They both include similar information as a bibliography entry. But putting them within a report gives readers a more detailed picture of where you got your information.
An animation shows the MLA Handbook flipping open to a page that reads "Footnotes" and then to another page that reads "Endnotes."
MOBY: Beep!
TIM: Naw, you don't have to memorize all this stuff. There are plenty of online resources you can easily pull up. Lots of them will create citations for you, based on the info you plug in.
An image shows a website titled "Citation-ator," with spaces for users to fill in information about a source. A button labeled "Create Citation" is at the bottom.
TIM: And keeping a copy of the MLA Style Guide handy is never a bad idea.
Tim holds a copy of the MLA Handbook in his hand.
TIM: Speaking of bad ideas, I'd love to read your cute little plan for world domination when it's -
<door slams>
Tim notices that Moby has left the room. He walks down the hall to Moby's room. The door is closed.
<chanting>
Tim opens to door to find Moby and several other robots, all dressed in black hooded cloaks. Moby turns and frowns at Tim.
MOBY: Beep!
TIM: Um, fire hazard?
Another robot slams the door shut.
EVIL ROBOT: Beep! Beep! Beep!