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Bibliographies are a pain in the ass, and everyone knows it. But, after reading this post, making a bibliography will never take as long again! The internet and computers have made compiling and sharing information easier, and your works cited page can certainly benefit from this.

This post contains an introduction to how to make writing a bibliography easy and fast. I’ve included information on the basic formatting and style options, and also some very useful links that will help you to quickly create a bibliography online or with software (for free!).

Formats Probably the most annoying thing about bibliographies is that they can be in one of a few different formats. First, it is always a good idea to ask your professor which format they prefer. Here is an introduction, with links to formatting guidelines for each.

MLA - “MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.”

APA - “APA (American Psychological Association) is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences.”

Chicago - This is another formatting style used less frequently, but may be the citation style of choice for your history class and some other social sciences.

Note: the MLA and APA links above and information are from the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University, an incredible resource for style and bibliography information.

Online bibliography creators Many services are available that use forms and databases of books to help you create bibliographies online. Some cost money, but many are free. Here is a breakdown of the best ones.

EasyBib.com – This one is my favorite. It is easy to use and will save your bibliography online as you work in your choice of formats. It is also probably the most popular site around.

• Cost - There is a free version, and a paid version (MyBib Pro). The free version does everything I need, but MyBib Pro offers additional features like InstaCite where all you need to do is enter the title and they will fill in the rest. MyBib Pro is $7.99 a year, not so bad.
• Formats available - MLA in the free version, MLA & APA in MyBib Pro

NoodleTools.com - This site is very similar to EasyBib. This site makes it really, really easy to find exactly the right way to list your source by taking you through all the different options. However, unlike EasyBib, in the free version you can’t save your work.

• Cost - The free version is called NoodleBib Express Want additional features like saving and note taking? The paid version costs $8 for the year.
• Formats Available - Both MLA and APA are available in the free and paid versions.

Ottobib.com  - If you plug an ISBN number from your book (the number under the bar code) this site will automatically create a formatted citation for you to use!  The problem, it only works with books and can’t help you cite a website or newspaper.

• Cost - Free.
• Formats Available - MLA, APA, Chicago, and more!

CitationMachine.com - This site is designed more as a resource than a business, which is nice. It is also great because it offers the Chicago format, which the other mentioned sites do not. However, you can not save your work and the types of sources you can choose to cite are somewhat basic.

• Cost - Free.
• Formats Available - MLA, APA, and Chicago

Bibliography Software

End Note - EndNote is the industry standard. However, it costs $200. Still, you may be able to get it free! Many universities offer this software to their students free. Check your libraries website for details, or ask a librarian. This software allows you to download databases of references that you can search through to find the perfect source, or to cite the source you are already working with. You can also fully integrate the software into Microsoft Word. It makes bibliographies, and footnotes, really really easy.

Bibus - Can’t afford EndNote? You are in luck, because Bibus is a great free tool that also works with Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.org. This software will help you database your sources and then format them while you work in your favorite word processor.

Well, that is it. Go forth and cite. Happy researching!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Writing, School Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.