Hello everybody!
In this post I want to talk with you about two different styles of citation: APA and MLA. I must admit I even didn't know that these styles existed! When I wrote my BA thesis I cited sources and wrote a bibliography, but I used what we can call a personal style. It was a way of citing I learned a coulpe of years ago. I was supposed to write an essay and we were told that it was a good way of citing sources, so I thought it would be good also for my BA thesis!
I didn't know two specific styles existed. I don't know if we have something similar for Italian but it seems to me that here in Italy we don't pay enough attention to the problem of plagiarism. APA and MLA styles are the answer to this matter: they tell you how to cite a source in a proper way, being it a in-text citation or a bibliography.
Even if they serve the same purpose they are a little bit different. Let's take, for example, the case of a reference list for some books. APA style suggests write the author's surname and then only the initial of the name. On the contrary, MLA style wants the surname followed by a comma and then by the complete author's name.
As far as the title of the book is concerned, if we decide to follow the APA style we should write the title in Italic while if we choose the MLA style our title will be underlined but not in Italic.
The two styles are also different for what the year of publication is concerned: according to APA, the year of publication should be written after the author's initial and divided from it by a comma. On the contrary, MLA puts the year at the very end of the citation.
If we want to cite an online resource the two styles suggest more or less the same technique, but MLA simply puts the retrieval date before the web address while APA specify ' retrieved .../.../....'.
I focused only on these two aspects of the two styles because these are the aspects that interest me more. Nevertheless, the two styles explain evey single aspect of citation; they give detailed instruction for every single situation of citation.
My style of citation for my BA thesis actually was a mixture of the two: I wrote the author's surname, then the initial of the name, then the book title in Italic and finally publisher, location and date. I thought it was a good style because it was complete and clear and I didn't find difficulties using it because it was pretty straightforward. Anyway, from now on I think I will use the MLA citation style because I like the emphasis on the book title and because I think is close to my 'personal' idea of citation so it will probably be more easy to use.
There's still a lot of work to be done!
See you soon!
Elisa
I was looking for something interesting for my thesis and through Google Books I found this interesting abstract. It is part of a book called "Southern Europe and the New Immigrations" and it is edited by Russell King and Richard Black. On page 138 Joanna Apap writes about the problems Maghrebi migrants have in Italy.
The text starts with a general introduction where the author clearly explains the aim of the chapter before starting with a in-depth analysis: the words "the focus of this chapter is mainly centred upon..." (Apap, n.d.) help the reader following the flow of ideas and the logical organization of the text. On the other hand, it is not possible to say that the text follows the hourglass structure because the reader can not identify a real conclusion. In fact, the last paragraph is called "Regional, local and private initiative". It doesn't bring the arguments to a close and, on the contrary, it addeds further information.
As far as logic is concerned, I think the text presents a logical flow of ideas. It is always clear how one sentence is related to the others. For example, on page 141 the author presents the problem of immigration and citizenship and she gives data and claims supporting her thesis. She uses the words for example, nonetheless, however in order to help the reader follow the logical flow of ideas through a sort of organized and fixed path.
This abstract can also be considered cohesive. The author makes a lot of references forward and back to the ideas she presents in the text. On page 143 she writes "thus recent estimates..." and then she points back to the same aspect writing "for example, an official estimates made...". Again, on page 145 she refers to differences between Italy and Spain and she writes "differences are particularly evident...". Then, she points back to the matter writing "one reason to this difference..." at the beginning of the next paragraph.
As far as writing is concerned, I think the article is pretty simple. Sentences are simple and not very long and the author doesn't use difficult or archaic terms. On page 145 Apap introduces the problem of spacial distribution of immigrants. The first sentence of the paragraph is the main idea. In this way, the reader understands what the author is going to speak about and can easily follow the flow of ideas. Apap writes "one reason for this difference might be the variation in the spacial distribution...". Then, she provides examples supporting this statement: " In Italy, immigrants are spread... In contrast, in Spain...".
Finally, I think the text is written for a specific audience even if it is written in a simple way and it can be easily understand even by non-experts. It provides specific examples and data that can be useful for research purposes and it is part of a book entirely dedicated to the problem of immigration. For this reason, the text is clear and fluent, but is rich of contents and it can be considered a scientific research.
Hello everybody!
Did you enjoy your Easter Holidays?
This time I would like to talk with you about IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) and plagiarism. We usually don't pay a lot of attention to this matter, but actually being able to avoid plagiarism and respect IPR is really important. So first, I would like to share with you some information about IPR. As you can see on Wikipedia there are different types of IPR: you're probably familiar with copyright and trademark, but maybe you don't know anything about trade secrets or patents. I think these concepts are a good starting point in order to improve your knowledge of the problem. If you want to know more about IPR I suggest you visit the WIPO Website: here you can find detailed information about IPR and an interesting pdf. about what IP actually is.
Now I would like to focus on the practical aspects of this matter: how can we respect IPR when writing? When using a source - for example in an academic paper - we should consider that the text we are referring to is a work of art and a creation of mind. For this reason, it should be properly cited in order to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism.org is a very useful site. Here you can find information on different types of plagiarism and on copyright laws, but most of all you can find important tips on how to avoid plagiarism when writing a paper and on how to make a good citation.
As far as I'm concerned, this point is fundamental: I'm not able to cite the sources I'm referring to in a proper way, or better, I don't use a specific style. This is something I should work on since I will have to write my final thesis. I suggest you visit this page from the Cornell University Library website where you can find a detailed description of the MLA Citation Style together with useful examples of it.
Hope I offered you an inspiring overview of the problem!
See you soon!
Elisa
Hi guys!
How are you?
I'm a little bit sad today because it's raining... I want the sun!
Anyway, this time I would like to share with you my impressions on an interesting and important aspect of the Web: the reliability of information.
When Sarah presented us this topic I suddenly thought about online resources. I almost always take for granted what is written in a 'traditional' book - it's published= it's true! - so I never thought about its reliability... I promise I will be more critic from now on...
On the contrary, reliability is an fundamental aspect of online resources. Just think about Wikipedia: everybody can publish or edit an entry... Even I - IO, ICH, YO, JE, WO - edited an entry, and of course I'm not what we can call an expert... You see how it is important to be able to evaluate the information you find on the Web.
When looking for online information I think it is important to evaluate and to check the following aspects:
- Who is the author ( his/her job, previous articles...)
- The domain ( .edu, .org...)
- The genre of the text (article, dissertation,...)
- The contents of the website and its layout (too many emoticons, advertisements...)
This is just what I think can be useful to get a general idea about the reliability of a source, but Purdue's Writing Lab and the website of University of Essex can help you with more useful and specific suggestions on how to evaluate an online resource. It is something everybody should be able to do if it is necessary to be sure of the reliability of a text.
Last lesson I also started to use Google in a more conscious way. I discovered Google Scholar, Google Books and Google Blogs. In the first one you can find online articles, dissertations, academic texts... It is very useful if you want to write your final thesis! Google Books helps you find the book you need; sometimes you can also read an abstract or a part of the text. Finally, Google Blogs helps you find interesting blogs in the jungle of the blogosphere. For example, I came across with The Bamboo Project. I suggest you visit this blog because it is a clear example of an authoritative blog... Blogs can be SERIOUS ;-D !
See you next week for another technological adventure!
Elisa
