Reveal Your Sources: Son of Citation Machine
September 19, 2007
Ah, the works cited page. It’s not just a way to pad the page count on a term paper. It’s also that frustrating last bit you forgot to budget time for while printing your final essay ten minutes before class. But a free site called Son of Citation Machine makes citing sources as simple as filling out a Web form.
For many researchers, the works cited page consists of arcane citation formulas that vary by books, magazines, number of authors, day of the week, and the gross national product. Son of Citation Machine (which I’ll henceforth refer to as simply “Citation Machine” because “Son of Citation Machine” sounds like a 1940’s sci-fi flick) lets you select from the major citation styles – MLA, APA, and Chicago, with Turabian still in development – as well as from various print and electronic formats. Good news, since you’ve probably flung your dusty old MLA manual across the room because it doesn’t include a section on citing Web pages. After you enter the source’s information – title, author, publisher, and so on – Citation Machine spits out a lovely, fit-for-print citation you can copy and paste right into your document.
Citation Machine is a great time-saver if you’re working on a master’s or PhD, and essential for your students doing a report on Son of Dracula. It’s also fun to make a citation for that book idea you’ve been kicking around for years:
Ferris, Bill. Up Your Nose with a Rubber Hose. 1. Chapel Hill, NC: LEARN NC, 2006.
So the next time you set your alarm for 5 a.m. the morning your thesis is due, remember: every source you cite through Citation Machine equals five extra minutes of sleep. –BILL FERRIS
