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A Guide to Database and Catalog Searching: Bibliographic Elements

How to access and search library databases and catalog

 

                                         For more information about bibliographic citation, click here for the Citation LibGuide.

Citations and Bibliographic Elements

Bibliographic elements are the pieces of information used to describe a book, journal/periodical/magazine, newspaper, or Internet resource. this descriptive information is used to create a bibliography (sometimes known as a Reference List or Works Cited). Every citation format or style includes the same four elements: author, date, title, and source (which may be the book publisher, the journal information for an article, and the electronic information like DOI).  This information comes from the title page of a book or journal, the electronic record in a database,or  the label on a CD or DVD. For a website, look at the top and bottom of a page or in the "About" section to find author, title, publisher, and date. For help, consult an instructor or a librarian.

Bibliographic Elements of a Book

Author: John R. Searle.
Title: The Rediscovery of the Mind.
Publisher: MIT Press.
Place and Date of Publication: Cambridge, MA, 1992.

detailed record for print book result

Bibliographic Elements of an Article

Author: Searle, John R.
Title: "Insight and Error in Wittgenstein."
Journal information: Philosophy of the Social Sciences.  Volume 46, issue 6, page range  527-47.
Date: December 2016.
DOI: 10.1177/0048393116649969

Look at the detailed record or on the article itself for more information.

screenshot of detailed article record