Miki's Masters

How do you know which is a book, which is a book chapter or essay, and which is a journal article? There are many different citation formats and styles; but often, those who write for the social sciences use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style. Here are some examples:

Book

To find out which UCLA library owns this book, search the catalog under the author's name, title words, or keywords (a combination of author and title words). HINT: Leave out words like the, a, an, to, etc.

Chapter or essay in a book

A citation for a chapter or essay in a book includes many of the same elements as a book citation. However, the key to knowing that it is a book chapter is the word in after the chapter title.

To find this essay search the catalog under the Editor's name (Inness) or under words from the book's title such as: kitchen culture America; or under keywords (a combination of book Editor and book title words).

Journal Article

How do you find a journal article? Find out which UCLA library owns a subscription to that periodical. In the example above, you would search under Aztlan, and click on "Journal Title (start of)" in the drop-down menu.

Library of Congress call numbers are arranged alphabetically and numerically. Read call numbers from left to right and from top to bottom.

Letters in the first line of the call number are alphabetical:

Numbers in the second line of the call number are in numerical order:

Letters in the third line are alphabetical:

Numbers in the third line of the call number are in decimal order. It is important to remember that there is an “invisible” decimal point between the letter and the number:

There may be a fourth line of letters and numbers. These will also be in alphabetical and decimal number order.

The last line of a call number may be a year. This indicates the publication date.