APA Bibliography- Documents from Electronic Library

K

KC

I'm trying to create APA bibliography for articles I download from electronic
library, like Ebscohost, and none of the sources will make a complete
bibliography entry. I want it to look like this:
Kastberg, S. (2003). Using Bloom's taxonomy as a framework for classroom
assessment. The Mathematics Teacher, 96(6), 402-405. Retrieved December 26,
2008, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 412009371). and include
the url. Do you have any ideas?
 
P

p0

I'm trying to create APA bibliography for articles I download from electronic
library, like Ebscohost, and none of the sources will make a complete
bibliography entry.  I want it to look like this:
Kastberg, S. (2003). Using Bloom's taxonomy as a framework for classroom
assessment.  The Mathematics Teacher, 96(6), 402-405.  Retrieved December 26,
2008, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 412009371).  and include
the url.  Do you have any ideas?

The easiest (and only) solution is doing it by hand. Word 2007 does
not support electronic databases as a source type. Doesn't mean you
can't add it yourself but that is rather hard to do unless you know/
like XSLT programming. You could try adding data to the comment field
and see what that does for you (I haven't checked it myself).

Another question is: do you need to add the information about the
electronic database? Looking at your example, this is a simple journal
article. Why would you add that electronic database information? Sure
you can find it in that database, but you can find it just as well in
a few dozen other databases/libraries. Have you ever added "from My
Local Library at 4th street" or "from my attic" when citing a journal
article?

Yves
 
G

grammatim

The easiest (and only) solution is doing it by hand. Word 2007 does
not support electronic databases as a source type. Doesn't mean you
can't add it yourself but that is rather hard to do unless you know/
like XSLT programming. You could try adding data to the comment field
and see what that does for you (I haven't checked it myself).

Another question is: do you need to add the information about the
electronic database? Looking at your example, this is a simple journal
article. Why would you add that electronic database information? Sure
you can find it in that database, but you can find it just as well in
a few dozen other databases/libraries. Have you ever added "from My
Local Library at 4th street" or "from my attic" when citing a journal
article?

Because the APA style sheet requires it.

It really is about time you became familiar with style sheets, if
you're going to be the resident expert on Word's pathetic attempts to
adhere to them.
 
P

p0

Because the APA style sheet requires it.

It really is about time you became familiar with style sheets, if
you're going to be the resident expert on Word's pathetic attempts to
adhere to them.

My question was directed at the original poster (OP) but I'm stupid
enough to bite.

I'm just questioning if the OP has to add this source as an entry to
an electronic database or if there are other solutions which would be
just as correct. Suppose you have a subscription to that very same
journal the OP used as an example and get the print version delivered
on your doorstep every month. How would you put the reference to the
article then? I'm assuming you would refer to it as an ordinary
journal article:

Kastberg, S. (2003). Using Bloom's taxonomy as a framework for
classroom assessment. The Mathematics Teacher, 96(6), 402-405.

The above reference would be correct without the mentioning of any
electronic database to which this article might belong as well. The
intention of my reply to the OP was telling him that Word can't do
what he wishes (unless he wants to dive into XSLT code) but he might
consider referring to the work differently without losing any
correctness in his own work.

I wouldn't call myself a "resident expert". I'm just somebody who, if
he is interested in some piece of technology, likes to find out how it
works and maybe extend its functionality. You can complain about
shortcomings over and over, or you can try to do something about them.
Personally, I prefer the latter, but that's just me.

A final closing remark which is probably going to backfire at me. From
the APA styleguide to electronic references (2007): "With the
exception of hard-to-find books and other documents of limited
circulation delivered by electronic databases, the database name is no
longer a necessary element of the reference. This change is made in
the interest of simplifying reference format. If you do include the
database name in a reference, do not include the database URL." So if
I understand that correctly, it is not required to add the database
name.

Yves
 
G

grammatim

My question was directed at the original poster (OP) but I'm stupid
enough to bite.

I'm just questioning if the OP has to add this source as an entry to
an electronic database or if there are other solutions which would be
just as correct. Suppose you have a subscription to that very same
journal the OP used as an example and get the print version delivered
on your doorstep every month. How would you put the reference to the
article then? I'm assuming you would refer to it as an ordinary
journal article:

Kastberg, S. (2003). Using Bloom's taxonomy as a framework for
classroom assessment. The Mathematics Teacher, 96(6), 402-405.

The above reference would be correct without the mentioning of any
electronic database to which this article might belong as well. The
intention of my reply to the OP was telling him that Word can't do
what he wishes (unless he wants to dive into XSLT code) but he might
consider referring to the work differently without losing any
correctness in his own work.

There's no guarantee that the on-line version is identical to the
paper version. An article of mine was printed with some misprints that
have been corrected in the on-line version, and I doubt that my
experience is unique.
I wouldn't call myself a "resident expert". I'm just somebody who, if
he is interested in some piece of technology, likes to find out how it
works and maybe extend its functionality. You can complain about
shortcomings over and over, or you can try to do something about them.
Personally, I prefer the latter, but that's just me.

You're the person who is by far the most likely to reply to a question
about the bibliography doohickey, indicating that the others defer to
you in this area, just as this or that MVP is most likely to respond
to questions about other specific items.
A final closing remark which is probably going to backfire at me. From
the APA styleguide to electronic references (2007): "With the
exception of hard-to-find books and other documents of limited
circulation delivered by electronic databases, the database name is no
longer a necessary element of the reference. This change is made in
the interest of simplifying reference format. If you do include the
database name in a reference, do not include the database URL." So if
I understand that correctly, it is not required to add the database
name.

Our poster may be required to follow the pre-2007 manual, which
evidently does include the requirement. Or: Unlike software
manufacturers, the publishers of style guides don't include a "What's
New?" section in their documentation (though changes are generally
noted at the point where they appear). For someone accustomed to the
previous version, it wouldn't occur to them to check whether this or
that detail had been altered in the latest version.
 
B

bobjfs

In summer of 2008, APA published a new set of guidelines for documenting
electronic documents. Because so much research is performed now using
electronic databases, it is very important for Microsoft to update its APA
style sheet utility to conform.

I appreciate the questions asked by p0, but grammatim is correct. If APA
requires it, as social scientists it is not ours to question. We merely
follow the style guide's format.

I don't know if this will work, but here is a link to a quick-and-dirty
version of the style guide offered by Northern Michigan University's Olson
Library.

http://library.nmu.edu/guides/userguides/style_apa20080930.pdf

Microsoft, please update this utility ASAP! We need your help!

Bob
 
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