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Howdy,

Here's the collection of responses I received, in my effort to justify the
application of MLA form as a research standard for bibliographies at my
high school. I should note that even though I asked for any opinion, I did
slant my target to specifically encourage those who might be pro MLA. A
large part of my goal here at school is to justify my own implementation
of MLA, with parenthetical references, having experienced at least one
teacher who is strongly in favor of teaching and using footnotes.

Thanks to everybody who wrote, and I would like to say that I agree with
all those who pointed out that the priority is not which format to adopt,
but to help the students recognize that citing sources is an essential
part of research and respect for the learning process.

....

The MLA bibliography format is very definitely accepted at US
Colleges/Universities.   We have developed a library research guide
tutorial for use by the University of Minnesota, which contains a section
on which style manual is appropriate for use.  It is at:

http://tutorial.lib.umn.edu/infomachine.asp?moduleID=10&lessonID=29&pageID=82

MLA is used in the humanities and APA in the social sciences.  Based on my
experience with BI-L postings (a listserv for instructional librarians,
primarily academic) many other universities and colleges also use these
major citation styles.

....

I tend to see MLA as more popular in the humanities and fine arts, and
APA as favored in science and social science. Frankly, though, whichever
you teach, the important thing you transmit to the students is that
there is such a thing as a standardized format and that one must adhere
to the particular guidelines of that it, whether APA, MLA, Turabian, or
other. None of these are forever, since they are all subject to ongoing
revision, and when the students get to college they simply need to know
to get the proper manual and follow it. Using either one will give them
the experience they need, in my opinion. Hope this helps!

....

My son's high school uses the MLA format and stated at the orientation for
freshman and new students that, even if the college the student attends
does
not use MLA format and parenthetical references, the student has learned
how
to research a paper, how to write an essay, how to cite their sources, and
how to use the handbook.  These skills will apply to any format the
college
uses.

I am required to use Turabian in my MLIS studies.  MLA is similar, but as
a
result of knowing how to use the Turabian handbook, I have no problem
helping my son use the MLA handbook to look up the information needed.

The appendices of the MLS include an overview of the types of formats used
by different fields. Encourage this teacher to use MLA as it is a widely
used format and that just the simple act of learning how to use the
handbook
will benefit the student.  You could also ask that this  teacher contact
the
history departments of several universities and ask what they recommend.

....

Most humanities depts. use the MLA style; education and social sciences
use the APA.  Anthropology uses their own version of APA.  This is true at
several colleges my family has attended: Oberlin College, U of Arkansas,
UCSB, SUNY Binghamton.

....

I don't know about other departments, but in my department, the
publication standard was APA, for my current students continues to be
APA.  (I recently joined the faculty here so can't speak for the rest,
but it's my best guess).

However, I do know that a friend of mine in a history deparment was
very thrown when he read some of my work, due to the parenthetical
references.  It is not the standard in history, or so he told me.

But, you could reassure the teacher that the point isn't necessarily
which format is used, but the skill in following a format that is
important.  That's the reason that MLA, APA and other organizations
publish format manuals: so we don't have to memorize it all.  If that's
the format that is appropriate in a history deparment at the college
level, they will tell students, and give them direction as to how to
find the appropriate manual.  Or, that teacher could refer students to
that manual for certain assignments each year.

Besides, there are many software packages (EndNote, for one) that will
automatically take care of formatting for authors according to whichever
style they would like to use.  These packages aren't magic bullets, but
they do make the formatting process faster.  You still have to proof
your work, since not all source formats are included, but it's way
better than having to count spaces, periods, and other punctuation.

I don't know if this is ammunition, or just support for you, but I hope
it helps.

....

AP is used in college journals, but it also uses parenthetical expression.
I think that MLA is very close to AP.

....

Having completed two masters degress in the last two
years, I've been in school enough to know MLA is
definately acceptable - in fact, widely used!
However, your teacher may not be convinced by my word
alone.  I worked as a graduate assistant in the
Writing Center at Eastern Illinois University, and one
of our primary jobs was to assist students with
documentation (high schools really need to work on
this!).  I can't remember their phone #, but if you
visit EIU's website (www.eiu.edu) and find the Writing
Center's Page, it may contain some info.  I know it
contains their phone #, whick also acts as an
international grammar hotline (and answers questions
about documentation).  Call and ask some questions;
perhaps talk to the director.
 Colleges definately use MLS, although I do think APA
is more common. English and speech depts. use MLA;
sciences, education, etc (anything where the currency
of the source is important) use APA.  EIU's history
department does still use Turabian style and footnotes
-  your teacher is not totally wrong there.  It isn't
a bad idea for students to know more than one style,
but more important is for them to UNDERSTAND at least
one - MLA is the easiest to use, so it's logical.
They may wait until college to be intorduced to the
othere.

....

I just finished an Applied Research project for Western Illinois
University and they required AP format. It seems that many colleges
require AP for Thesis, Applied Research Projects, and Desertations.
 As I used AP format, however, there were several things I didn't
like about it.  I think the important thing is to teach students
a style - like MLA or AP.  Once they have learned one style it
is easier to learn a new style.  If they know one style they
will at least have some experience using a style manual.  Best
wishes with your decision making process.

....

At our high school in Texas, we use MLA.
I guess its whatever one is accustomed to.
We do provide students with examples of the various formats. i.e. book,
magazine, online database, etc.
We put them in a plexiglass free standing picture frame. (The one with two
sides which opens like a half open book.)
The students use this all of the time.

....

I used MLA format as an undergraduate in English and am currently using the
format as a graduate student in a library science program.  In my
experience
most instuctors prefer parenthetical notation to footnotes.  Some graduate
or doctoral programs may have one method they require, but students
reaching
this level of proficiency should have no difficulty adjusting to a new
method on their own.  This will, of course, vary from university to
university, but there is no way you can teach every possible method anyway.
Give the students a good, solid foundation in writing and their freshman
English classes will guide them toward any adjustments they need to make
for
their chosen schools.

....

When I was in grad school at the University of Texas at Austin, the
preferred
style by most professors was MLA.  Some asked for MLA or Turabian and
others
had no preference.  NO professors asked for APA.  This was 1998-1999.
Hope
this helps.

....

We did a survey of the colleges in our state about 10 years ago.  The
format that they prefered was MLA.  There were exceptions, but we went
with the majority.  Remind this teacher that you are teaching a formula,
that as long as the students know what each part is, where it can be
found, and why it is necessary they shouldn't have any problems.

We send students to some of the best schools and I've never heard any
complaints.

....

I received my MLIS degree from URI (University of Rhode Island) several
years
ago. During my "tour of duty", I had to write many term papers. Some of my
professors required APA format while others accepted MLA format. ALL
required
parenthetical referencing. I checked Writer's Inc: Write for College,
copyright 1997. In this resource, it discusses both MLA and APA and
parenthetical referencing for each format. This is what is currently
required
at the college level.

As far as what documentation style to use, our high school teachers have
agreed to use MLA for research papers. (There was one teacher who insisted
that his students use footnotes at the end of each page until he was given
Writers Inc: Write for College as a gift.) It is important that the
students
understand citing their sources and following one style for documentation
which is used on the college level. MLA is widely used on the high school
level. I do not recommend using  APA in the sciences and MLA in the
humanities. It leads to confusion since each style is "slightly" different.
During one-5 week summer session, I had two research papers to complete
within
a very short time, One professor wanted APA and the other MLA. Needless to
say, I frequently became frustrated not at the research but at using
correct
documentation for either MLA or APA. Each are so similar, but there are
differences. It is easy to mix them up. The objective is to teach students
to
correctly document their sources in the body of paper and works cited page
using either MLA or APA.

....

We use Turabian chicago style.
That's what college profs. want.
So, when our kids go to college, they know about it.

....



Our English department unanimously adopted MLA several years ago. Several
of them are teaching AP classes and are aware of what colleges are
requiring. No problems here.


Steven Crandell
Library Media Center Specialist
International School of Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya
scrandell@isk.ac.ke

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