4.2 Recording information for referencing

By accurately recording information for referencing, you ensure your ability to:

find the information again with minimum effort and anxiety
cite and reference the information correctly for your assignment.

What information do you need to record?

for a book
for a journal, newspaper or magazine article
for an electronic source

A book

To reference a book, the details required in order are:

name/s of author/s, editor/s, compiler/s or the institution responsible
year of publication
title of publication
series title and individual volume if applicable
edition if other than first
place of publication
publisher
page numbering if applicable

For example:

A journal, newspaper or magazine article

To reference an article, the details required in order are:

name/s of author/s of the article
year of publication
title of article
title of periodical
volume number or date of publication
issue number if applicable
page numbers of the full article

For example: a journal article

a newspaper article

An electronic source

The details required for electronic sources are basically the same as those required for print sources with a retrieval statement added at the end of the reference.

The additional pieces of information that you will require are:

the type of medium
the date you accessed the item
the URL or name of database.

For example: a journal article from a full-text database

a web page

By recording your references correctly you will be able to find the information again with minimum effort. Citing and referencing correctly for your assignment is best practice.