What's your favorite style book?

I see that some schools give you an option of using either Modern Language Style, Chicago Manual of Style, or Harvard System, etc., so long as there's consistency.

Before I head over to Amazon, I'd like to hear from some of you about your favorite style book.

I have a worn out copy of Turabian, but the school I'm considering does not list it as an option :-(

Roscoe

 

Pitchers has not yet complained about my usage of Turabian only about my non British spellings and grammaticisms.

Just tell Song that you've a certificate in writing and that you jolly well know better than he does how to do footnotes

I'm always glad to provide good suggestions Roscoe!

 

K.I.S.S. ("Keep It Simple, Stupid...")

Use Turabian. It's based on Chicago, and is much simpler to master. You only need Chicago if you're going for esoteric references. If you're still doing your thing in theology, most theological programs prefer Turabian or Chicago.

Don't bother with MLA unless you're majoring in humanities, English, or literature - no one else requires it.

Ditto A.P. and New York Times - only journalists or journalism students use them.

Ditto APA unless you're in psychology or social services, in which case APA will be required. Some people have used APA in the belief that it is easier because it does not require pge citations; not true - APA has required page numbers since the 4th edition. (I am required to use APA for my current writing, but would still prefer Turabian.)

Ditto Strunk & White - no one bothers with that after high school.

And only law students or legal scholars have to use Harvard (referring to the Harvard Blue Book). Even then, carrying a Religion/Law major in my grad studies, I was able to stick with Turabian on the basis that most of my readers would not be lawyers and that I was writing as an academic rather than as an attorney.

What most programs without a specific style requirement will tell you is to simply pick one manual and stick to it throughout your program. Even then, many programs will allow another manual if you request advance approval and have a good rationale. (For example, in my doctoral program, I specifically chose Turabian, backed up by Harvard as necessary for lcase citations. Thus, in my dissertation, I was able to cite cases according to Harvard, while citing books and articles according to Turabian.)

Strangest style manual I ever had to use: I forget the name of it, but it was an esoteric book required by John Warwick Montgomery (then of Simon Greenleaf, later of Trinity - the degree mill in Newburgh) because it retained the use of op cit., which had already been discarded by the other manuals.

As a teacher, I always required Turabian or Chicago, although I gave counseling students the option of using A.P.A. and attorneys (some of my students were already practicing lawyers) the option of using Harvard.

 

Mirabella.

 

I go with Strunk & White for usage; Chicago is my current favorite for citations, but I'm also familiar with the MLA and APA citation formats. I've never used Turabian, but if it's easter than Chicago, go for it.


Cheers,

 

I favour the APA style. This is mainly because it is the style I am most familiar with.

North

 

Turabian can be thought of as a synopsis of Chicago, on which Kate Turabian based her work. Think of it as a "Reader's Digest COndensed Version" - clean and crisp, yet following all of the Chicago principles. In that sense, it is certainly easter [sic] than Chicago.

Translation: "I recommend the APA Manual . . . because I don't know the other ones."

Sorry, North, couldn't resist, especially since you ended your sentence with a preposition.

Nonetheless, North raises a good point: Even for those of us who have used different manuals, we tend to favor the one we used first.

I actually started out with the New York Times manual, which I continued to prefer even after switching to the Associated Press manual (despite the excellent section in A.P. on libel law). I did not begin to use a style manual until I started my M.A. program - first the mickey-mouse one used at Simon Greenleaf (which was actually not significantly different than Turabian, except that it retained the op cit. form), then switched to Turabian because it was required at Vermont College. I only began to use Chicago when I was writing books for major publishers.

For ease of use that covers all of the bases, however, I still recommend Turabian unless you are in psychology, counseling, or social services and are required to use APA.

 

Thanks Levicoff!

Guess that explains why my pal Bill is allowed to use his Turabian at UNIZUL

BTW, the Harvard Sytem is also required for thelogy work at Potchchefstroom. A rep from the school recently sent me a packet that included the Harvard material.

Thanks for making all this plain. Now, instead of heading over to Amazon, I'll just pull my Turabian from the shelf and get to work.

Roscoe

 

Re: Thanks Levicoff!

I'm not sure that the Harvard System usd by Potch is the same as the one used here in legal study, which is commonly known as the Harvard Blue Book. The HBB is used almost exclusively in the law and, while I am unaware of any other Harvard citation system (having never been bothered with Harvard), it would not surprise me to find there is a different one used by Potch.

Now, Roscoe, as for simply pulling your Turabian from the shelf, my first recommendation is that you check which edition of Turabian you have, then check the number of the current edition. If there is a significant difference (say, more than a couple of years difference in publication date), head to thy local bookstore and buy a new one. Styes do change, and the most significant changes in many style manuals have taken place in just the last few years because of the significant increase in citing online sources. The most recent edition, according to amazon.com and bn.com, is the 6th edition (1996).

(Just for the halibut, I checked my own shelf. My last one is the 5th edition from 1987. Likewise, when I started playing student agauin recently, I checked my APA manual, and it was the 4th edition - significantly revised since then. The first thing I did was score a copy of the 5th edition.)

For schools that specify a style manual, you'll find that some (though not all) professors are sticklers for style. As a teacher, I used to obnoxiously shave points on items like grammar, spelling, and punctuation until it occurred to me one day that my students were paying to learn the subjects I taught - they weren't enrolled in a freakin' writing class. Nonetheless, I continued to hold them to exacting standards when it came to citation style, because that was part of the research process. And it does make a person a better writer.

For what it's worth, here's a little anecdote about the heretofore mentioned John Warwick Montgomery, one of the most pompous prigs under whom I have ever sat in class, but also one of the most brilliant evidential apologists of the 20th century. Montgomery's standard, when he received a paper from a student, was to turn to the end notes first. If the notes were not correctly formatted, he wouldn't even bother to read the text but would toss the paper back with a flourish and give you one more shot at it. (I had my shot when he tossed it back, noting that I had consistently used the term ibed rather than the correct idib. But hell, it was my first legal research paper and, once I got it right, I pulled an A.)

Yes, Montgomery was a pain-in-the-butt eccentric, but his grandiose act turned me into a much better writer. (But not as well as my later M.A. advisor, who pointed out every time I ended a sentence with a preposition - without being as pompous as JWM.)

So, Roscoe, the first thing you should do is check which edition of the Turabian manual you have, and ensure that it's the most recent one. And for as long a you're a student, when the next one comes out, blow the $14.95 (or whatever) for the new one - it will be worth it.

 

ibid?

 

Thanks again, Levicoff!

Just checked. I have the 5th edition, the one I used in '93. Shame on me.

Well, Amazon, here I come.

Roscoe

 

Roscoe,

If Turabian is what you are accustomed to using, ask Dr. Song that you be allowed to use this style. If this is allowable it will save you the time in becoming familiar with another style.

 

Re: Re: Thanks Levicoff!

The method used by Potch--the Harvard Style--can be seen at www.puk.ac.za/library/puk_styl.html .

 

As Ed used to say, "You are correct Sir".

Steve, I realize that you are reluctant to reveal your new school (for obvious reasons). What level of education is it (Masters doctorate, certificate).

North

 

No comment. The Internet has become a bastion of neurotics who want to share their lives in a millieu of psychos. I am not one of them, having come to value my privacy. So, except to reveal the fact that I am quite well hung, the answer to any questions regarding my educational endeavors at this stage of the game - my credentials already having been established many times - is, "None of yo' business."

Nothing personal, North, just finally responding to the many questions of this nature I've received over the past month or two. There will be no information forthcoming - neither institution, nor field, nor level, nor methodology.

Get over it, kiddies.

 

"I'd rather not say" works just fine in my experience.

Best of luck with it, at any rate, and I trust you'll tell us the juicy details after you graduate (which ought to be soon, judging by the pace you kept at TESC-Vermont-Union).


Cheers,

 

Thanks for sharing. Finally I have an answer to my earlier query about why there aren't more women on this board. They have too much taste.

Peter

 

Peter:

Steve's been doing that for a long time now. You've been a member for almost a year. Did you just now notice?

 

Actually, I found Peter's observation quite amusing. But keeping in mind that he's one of the newbies, he was probably not previously aware of the fact that I am gay. Thus, he should be aware that my statement is not misogynist, just generally offensive.

 

I prefer APA, because it was the first one I used formally at UoPhx. UoPhx in San Jose now uses MLA, so I am familiar with that one as well (I'm adjunct), but I don't care much for it.

Argosy (yuck)- formally University of Sarasota (yay) uses APA as well, so I get much more practice with it than I do with MLA.