Footnotes and Bibliography

When you create something, it is at least partly as a result of taking outside influences, assimilating them, reprocessing them, and turning them into something new. In many kinds of writing, mainly those where the outside influences include written literature (especially things with a copyright), it is considered polite (at the very least) to acknowledge that some of your process depended on this literature. In fact, most academic institutions (and the laws of most countries) consider it an obligation to do so.

Here are some thoughts on bibliographies, footnotes/endnotes, and in-text references; as well as some collected examples of different formats. The Workbook points are hidden way at the end.

In your own explorations and researches, documented in your Portfolio, you will probably need a bibliography for at least some of your work. It might actually be part of your reflective writing on the process of that work. You only need to list those resources which you actually feel you are indebted to for your information, but it is also common to add to those all the other works which influenced you even slightly.

Notes (footnotes or endnotes) and in-text references are used to give credit to one (or more) of your sources which you relied on for a quote or specific bit of information. They can also be used to give further explanation of a point, or point the way to further information on a point.

There are lots of variations of format for both bibliography entries and footnotes. In general, the important things to include are the author, title, and publishing information; you are basically making it as easy as possible for someone else to go to a library and find one of your sources that interests her. The most important thing is to keep the same consistent format within the one bibliography. Here are some samples of bibliography entries, based on Kate Turabian's Manual of Style. This is the most common style used for bibliographies and footnotes.

Hofstadter, Douglas R.  Gšdel, Escher, Bach:  an Eternal Golden Braid.  
	New York:  Basic Books, 1979.

Lester, Virginia.  "Friends World Scholars I have Known."  in Thoughts and 
	Perspectives of Administrators throughout the Ages.  Brian Cashdollar, 
	editor.  unpublished manuscript, 1991.

MacDonald, Donald.  "Goats and Chickens Stranded in Snowstorm."  in Stornoway 
	Gazette.  Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland.  December 28, 1995, p. 1.

Some of the more common standards in bibliography entries, seen here: entries in alphabetical order, everything is separated by a period (or according to some methods, a comma), articles and chapter titles go in quotes, while the larger works they are taken from are underlined.

Footnotes can go at the bottom of the relevant page, or in a list at the end of the section or of the whole Portfolio (in which case they are endnotes). Most word-processing programs have functions that make bottom-of-the-page footnotes relatively easy, otherwise, trying to gauge the amount of space needed makes them a hassle-- endnotes are far easier with a regular typewriter. Samples:

	¹Douglas Hofstadter, Gšdel, Escher, Bach, New York:  
Basic Books, 1985, p. 277.

	²ibid., p. 35.

	³by "billion" is meant the American billion (1,000,000,000), 
not the British billion (1,000,000,000,000)

	⁴Lester, 1991, p. 76.

	⁵Hofstadter, p. 129.

Number one is a full footnote, essentially the same information as a bibliography entry, but with commas separating everything instead of periods (full stops). This kind of footnote is a characteristic of the Turabian style. Other styles generally use in-text references (see below).

Number two is an abbreviation for ibidem (Latin for "same thing") which is standard way to repeat the previous entry in "shorthand." (only if it comes immediately after the note alluded to).

Number three is an explanation-type footnote.

Number four shows a shorter way of referring to one of your sources, just giving enough information so that the reader can find it in the bibliography and get the full description (this is appropriate in some situations, not all).

Number five shows the same thing, this time as a referring to a source mentioned in a previous note (something like the ibid. technique)

In-text references are usually much more compact, and are often used in the social sciences. The general idea is similar to that in the "shorthand" footnotes above. For example:

...the air temperature can be determined from the number of times that a cricket
chirps per second (Fempwick, 1988). 

...There is much controversy over exactly what happened when the Pope confronted 
Attila the Hun [34, p. 237].

...one billion dollars (3).

...Fempwick also mentions the fact that some crickets have ears on their knees (p. 152).

The first is a reference to a work cited in the bibliography. The inclusion of the publication date allows the reader to tell the difference between several works by the same author. Alternatively, you could include the title after the comma, instead of the date.

The second of these is even more abbreviated, simply referring to bibliography entry number 34. In this case, the bibliography would have each entry numbered, sometimes in aphabetical order, or sometimes in order of reference in the text.

The third one is referring to an endnote, but using parenthetical notation, rather than a raised number (as above with the footnote).

The fourth one is a page number reference for a source which has already been mentioned in the sentence.

Gathered here are some essentials from three of the biggest standard Style Manuals in the United States: Kate Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers, used very widely and generally, the MLA Style Manual (Modern Language Association), which is the standard for literature and other humanities, and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, often used in education, psychology, and the social sciences. These summaries were compiled based on the online (Internet) reference services of a number of University Libraries. Please remember that these are only brief sketches of what is available. These books are widely used and available in the United States and many other countries; if you have more questions, look them up. There are also many, many other standards for citing references. Remember, the important thing is the acknowledgment and the basic information. The format is a matter of some flexibility-- talk to your advisor if you have questions.

Workshop Discussion Sparks

Plagiarism
"Standards" that we follow in order to meet the expectations that people have of a college-level education
When a footnote is needed (or not)

Inspired and Creative

Make your bibliography an annotated bibliography: after the pertinent information, you add a few comments about the book, its influence on your work, or whatever. This puts some relevance and fun back into a fairly dry task, and looks rather distinguished at the end of it.

Ex:

Lester, Virginia.  "Friends World Scholars I Have Known."  in Thoughts and 
	Perspectives of Administrators Throughout the Ages.  Brian Cashdollar, 
	editor.  unpublished manuscript, 1991.  A breathtaking account of 
	the dash and heroism of her favorite wandering scholars, seen through 
	the eyes of a loving and altruistic college president.  Although 
	probably included in the book because Cashdollar is himself one of 
	Lester's pick of the best, nevertheless an inspired and inspiring essay.

(well OK I got carried away, but you get the idea.)

Rigorous Training

If you really feel like you need it, go find a stack of random books and put them all in a bibliography and write fake footnotes from them. Short of that, practice with the things you are writing anyway-- essays, area studies, etc.

AAAAAGGGHHHH!

OK, the thing that probably spooks most people with bibliographies and footnotes is whether they've got the punctuation right. It's not worth it. As long as you get the title, author, and publishing facts in there (and page # for notes), all you do is follow the pattern above or in one of the sources below, or make up something as long as it's clear and consistent, and as long as your readers will get the information they need.

See Also

Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers
New York Public Library Desk Reference
Just about any grammar book or writing book in any library
Even good encyclopedias have reference articles for footnote and bibliography formats
If you use a word processor, you are at an advantage here, because many programs today have functions that automatically fit snazzy-looking footnotes at the bottom of a page, and that punctuate and alphabetize your bibliography for you. Read your manual or pull down the help menu.
LEARNING PLAN: RESOURCES (A.2.e)
RESEARCH TOOLS (F)
SCIENTIFIC WRITING AND WRITING IN OTHER DISCIPLINES (D.1.c)
EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION/LEARNING CYCLE (C.1)
CLIPPINGS AND PHOTOCOPIED MATERIAL (D.6)

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