Citing Web2.0 electronic references in APA style index

I'm having a ball considering how to cite references from new web media... but the posts are so long (sorry) its a pain to scroll through my APA style citing label, so this post will help me get straight to the one I want.

Citation issues that arise if you assign students online writing tasks:

• expectations for academic referencing styles when writing online; 
• APA's hanging indents with HTML

Please note that better answers than mine below may be available at APA's referencing blog - more on that lower.

• Blog post
• Blog post comment
• How APA's 2007 "Weblog post" example was a fail
• Games
  
• Google+ posts or comments
• Photos and images from Flickr or similar online sources
  
• Slideshare presentation (Powerpoint online?)
• Songs
  
• Twitter tweet
• Twitter tweet span
• YouTube video
• Vimeo video, includes citing narrator; citing interviewee
  

Is there some other kind of online source you've wondered how to cite?
If so, Please tell me about it so I can have fun with it too.

1-06-10:
Indeed, APA's blogging about referencing is immensely helpful.  The referencing gurus at APA's blog are guiding wonderfully not just through their posts, but in their ongoing responses and explanations through comments.  The first bits I'd recommend woud be:

• Chuck's guide to the Generic Reference and the subsequent:
• Who. (When). What. Where. 
• Timothy's Frankenreference
• and [Supplementary];

I'll be back to add links to more specific clarifications of citing electronic sources but one I haven't even considered and now don't need to is:

• Citing Facebook

---
Photo credit: Piggyback ;-) by tony_s2008, on Flickr (CC2.0:BY-NC-ND)

Academic social media - citing and referencing expectations

Students: check what the teacher expects.
Teachers: are your expectations reasonable for the online publishing environment and spelled out?
Me: Try for a *brief* post for once.

Today I was browsing through the assignments and marking criteria in a friend's subject on social networking for information professionals.

YAY: Students would receive marks for their use of one of the social media tools, as an online journal. Excellent, if students are to use social web tools, their use of tools and their capacity to use such tools with increasing professionalism, should count (IMO).

SLIGHTLY ASIDE BUT IT WILL TIE BACK IN
Teachers ought to consider the best ways for students to learn about online publishing (it should be fun, step up gradually over time, and have clear signposts)... and very carefully how to enable that (in a pedagogically sound way) within a subject which requires online posting. One little point in passing: If the course is an introduction to social networking, expectations and marking criteria for a first post should *not* be the same as for final posts.

AND back on topic
Citation and referencing methods are different in online publishing. Teachers of courses that intend to incorporate online publishing should know very well the differences for different types of online tools, should teach them, adapt expectations of assignment content to suit the medium and teach how the students can meet those expectations within assignments in the new medium.

As Wilson [aka morgan] (2007) pointed out, in response to my ponderings (prior to the 6th edition) on how to cite new media in student papers, "All of these citation methods are optimized for printed media - how they spell out the URLs, which is cumbersome and unnecessary in an electronic publication." I agree, in the main, although the degree of truth to that depends what *kind* of electronic publication. (Although, even when submitting to academic publications who will both hyperlink and spell out references to enable printed versions, writers don't have to do the coding themselves).

At an undergraduate level, students are expected to have read widely in scholarly or industry literature and to cite suitable content using an institutionally selected Style. In my LIS courses it has always been with APA style. Yet APA style references should appear with hanging indents. How many novice bloggers have sufficient knowledge of html to produce hanging indents--and are they relevant?

Let's go back to the purposes of initiating students into writing using social media: is one of those purposes to encourage familiarity (and hopefully expertise) that will prepare them for professional applications? For the kinds of use to which your students should be able to put social media after graduation, is academic referencing appropriate, particularly APA? On the one hand academic references are rarely used in blogs for patron audiences; but might be in blogs for inter-professional communication if usually only when cited sources are not online. On the other hand even wikipedia requires references and teaches its users how to enter references appropriately, and you'll note it uses a discrete footnoting system.

ALMOST DONE, but first
The particular online journalling assignment I mentioned above? It could be produced in any of the social media tools.  Can you imagine academic referencing in posts to Facebook?

SUMMING UP MY OPINION

• Don't set the bar too high on first posts ... encourage multiple familiarity posts with each showing a new desired attribute to gain comfort with the tool ... prior to the first basic assessable post.  Make its assessable criteria much simpler than final posts.
• Don't ask boring questions.
• If you want to see academic citations:
• give an amount (why should they have to guess?);
• provide information about and discuss how they are used differently online;
• choose an online-suitable style;
• if you're going to insist on APA, consider explicitly waiving the hanging indent;
• *first* show how you expect to see it--in your own post to each of the tools at which you are accepting assessable posts (not in the closed learning system).

Oops distracted, just before the end: imagining how one might keep and share a learning journal within Second Life which would not be the net taken in or SL stuff sent out--can't do hanging indents in notecards.  And then, what about Twitter, if people can write novels with Twitter, why not a reflective learning journal?

---
Photo credit:
Blogging Street Cred by Gideon Burton, via Flickr CC:BY-SA-2.0
---

and, just because I can:

REFERENCES

Wilson, M. (2007, June 1). [comment to blogpost: How does one cite a blog post in APA style?]. Retrieved 27 November, 2011 from http://moonflowerdragon.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-does-one-cite-blog-post-or-blogpost.html

How to cite a Google Plus post or comment in APA style - a guess

Mind this is a guess, I'm sure APA will come out with guidance if it becomes a big issue, as they've touched on Twitter and Facebook already, and this follows the same principles.

Cirque Dreams Holidaze (U.S. Air Force photo by/ Senior Airman Jonathon Steffen)| CC/BY-NC from Flickr via kwout

At the time of writing it will have to work differently for a google+ post than a comment to a g+ post because only the time of a post provides a permalink.

For a google+ post:

Author, I. (year, Month, day). [Constructed title, perhaps "Google+ post about..." or the first few words of the post...]. Retrieved day month year from >permalink from timecode<

Meerbach, M. (2011, July 13). [Google+ post: "Uses for empty circles. 1. Bookmarks. / {kwout in google+ test}..."]. Retrieved 13 July 2011 from https://plus.google.com/107965671267142239949/posts/TSP196dhgmi

Challenges to citing a comment to a google+ post are: the comment doesn't have a permalink (yet?); that neither have titles; no globally reliable way to easily locate one comment if it is amongst potentially hundreds/thousands. I'm guessing that the "time" google shows me for any post or comment will be different to the time it shows someone in a different timezone.

Still, perhaps this would work:

Baltzell, J. (2011, July 12). [Comment: "You're a member of every circle you create..."]. To [Google+ post by Jenniffer Baltzell: "Using the bejeebers out of my "Read Later" circle"]. Retrieved 13 July 2011 from https://plus.google.com/103854478178815355356/posts/BxpnMgu9WUN

Which is the closest I can get to this particular comment:

"Reader Later" circle from +Jenniffer Baltzell via kwout

And that is a title composed completely by the kwout tool - I wonder where they got the "Reader Later" bit?

Caveats:

• This would only work with public posts
• As posts can be deleted, if continued access to the material you cite is important, it might be worth taking a screenshot and archiving the image.
• Dates will be relative to the viewer, but as the variance will only be within a day it is still more useful than not giving a day at all.
• If those permalinks get really long, perhaps your readers would appreciate a shortened link

In-text citation issues:

• location: 
• not necessary in short posts? 
• use para or ¶ in longer posts

Pseudonyms:

• Use the name as given.
• Quite early on disputes have arisen about the use of pseudonyms with Google+ with at least one account (that to me appears to have been for a valid online identity) suspended. While I hope that the policy is changed, not all such accounts have been removed, and the author would be however they identify themselves.

More on citing board games: Scruples

How delightful: Having decided that a comment I was writing had developed beyond a simple example to append to my post about citing board games in APA style: as I entered a title for this new post it occurred to me that the theme of Scruples is what earned this blather its own space.

MyBlogLog shared another curiosity when I scanned its statistics for me today... Someone searched my blog for cite the board game scruples.

Unless the querant was pondering the ethics of citing board games, I'm guessing the curiosity was how to cite that particular game Scruples. I do have a copy of the game, and this is how I would cite the copy I have. As the game is revised and updated every five years (High Game Enterprises, 2008), you might have a different copy.

Depending whether my text refers to the game as a whole or a specific part of it, in-text citations might be:
(A Question of Scruples, 1986)
(A Question of Scruples, 1986, q178)
(A Question of Scruples, 1986, rules p.6)
(A Question of Scruples, 1986, base of box)

A Question of Scruples [Board game]. (1986). Sydney, N.S.W. : Milton Bradley

So, why would I not cite the publisher as corporate author? Because I am not sure that Milton Bradley are responsible for the design of the game. Although I would not rely* on the source regarding this particular information (Wikipedia and BoardGameGeek) to insert [Surname, I. (Designer)] in author place, it may be the game was designed by an individual who sold it to a game company who may have shared rights to publish it with companies in other countries.

*The claim of designership maybe false. Or overstated, perhaps the claimant merely created and sold the concept of the game.

It is sad for historians, and board game appreciators, that game publishers have not been in the habit of acknowledging the provenance of the games they publish.

Considering the claim (unverified, but uncontested) of a designer outside the publishing company, the claim on my box of copyright by MB "under Berne and Universal copyright conventions" and the absence of any information acknowledging designers or design teams (would that be too hard?), seems they may simply have bought the right to publish, and that the designer did not retain any right to acknowledgement for design.

I have seen a game in which the publisher did acknowledge the source of the concept, and the company personnel who then developed it into a game. I'd like to see more of that. Just like my uncle likes to read the credits rolling at the end of a film.

HTML code for hanging indents for APA style reference list

REFERENCES
<div style="padding-left: 4em; text-indent: -4em;">

<p>...first reference...</p>
<p>...second reference...</p>
<p>...etc...</p>
</div>

(Thank you The Real Blogger Status)

Note: don't rely on your blogging tool to use paragraph codes automatically, Blogger doesn't.

I've written from time to time about how to cite electronic sources for APA style reference lists, yet it took me a while to discover a way to achieve online the appearance of hanging indents required in APA style for papers in print.

Students. BEFORE you freak - you might not need to use that code at all.


I think educators who are encouraging students to write online, if they require students to include proper APA style in-text citations and reference lists at all, possibly wouldn't be insisting on the hanging indents.  This could be because many such educators (who may be but a few online experiments ahead of their students) may not yet themselves have discovered html code that will work. Or more likely because the priority reasons that educators want their students writing online do not (and shouldn't necessarily) include in-depth familiarity with html code.

So, if you are really required to be writing academically in a blog or otherwise online, and are required to include references in APA style, you might like to check first whether your assessor wants the references hanging.

Citing a song in APA style

.... particularly if APA's example reference to the writer is not accurately crediting the idea you cite?

Lyrics

Quite possibly the googlers who landed somewhere in my blog (and would have left dissatisfied because I hadn't yet decided to play with this puzzle) may have been wanting a simple answer for quoting song lyrics. Cool, can (maybe) do from APA's (2010, p. 209) example for a music recording (if a recording is your source).

Writer, A. (Copyright year*). Title of song [Recorded by B. B. Artist if different from writer]. On Title of album [Medium of recording: CD, record, cassette, etc.]. Location: Label. (Date of recording if different from song copyright date)

*Copyright date? Aren't we supposed to cite our Source..."Give in parentheses the year the work was published" (APA, 2010, p. 185)? And seriously how often do you see the lyrics' own copyright date provided even when the records, cassettes or CDs includes a print of the lyrics? But I'm not going to explore the complexities of music/lyrics copyright: Circle C and Circle P (© and ℗) just now.

Time for examples?
I don't listen to enough music to identify any with academic relevance, so let's just pretend these do:

"...I'm feeling you, you're on my mind
I wanna be with you
'Cause when you're standing next to me
It's like wow..."
(Harry & St. Victor, 2001, Track 3)

Harry, J. & St. Victor, S. (2001). Like Wow! [Performed by Leslie Carter]. On Shrek: music from the original motion picture [CD]. Dreamworks.

Or:

"I've been alone with you inside my head
And in my dreams I've kissed your lips, a
thousand times..."
(Richie, 1983, Track 2:4)

Richie, L. (1983). Hello. On Can't slow down [Record]. Los Angeles, CA : Motown.

And, because I began exploring APA citation in more detail for electronic sources, 2 more examples:

Say I quote lines of a song relying on text version of the lyrics?:

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?"
(Burns, 2010)

Burns, R. (2010). Auld Lang Syne (contemporary version) [song lyrics]. In Cantaria folk song archive. Retrieved from http://www.chivalry.com/cantaria/lyrics/auldlang.html

OR, say I referred to OK Go's (2009, 1:17) advice to "Don't go blaming the kids again", "if your mind don't move and your knees don't bend" or in some other way to their song This too shall pass and if my source were their marching band version video which they are now (but were not previously) permitted to embed and allow others to embed.

Then my reference list might appear:

OK Go. (2009). This too shall pass [music video]. Capitol Records. Retrieved 30 May 2010 from http://www.okgo.net/2010/05/28/the-little-things/

Even if I had viewed the video at YouTube where OkGo mention the album in which the song appears: "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky", my own source was not the album.

 

Performance

But, what if we write about the ideas performed rather than the lyrics? What do I mean by that... could you writers about song performances help me out here? In the meantime, as one example, tvtropes refer to when the cover changes the meaning, (although some of their many examples merely demonstrate a variation of tone), still that sort of instance might dramatise that there are times when we might need to cite someone other than the song-writer.

Perhaps the dramatic difference between Greg Laswell's and Cyndi Lauper's covers of lyrics originally by Robert Hazard. Might one cite Lauper's (1983) feminist declaration of girl's wanting to have fun on the one hand, or Laswell's (2007) lament that girls just want to have fun, and perhaps credit Hazard for lyrics in additional information in the reference list?

Lauper, C. (1983). Girls just want to have fun [adapted from lyrics by Robert Hazard]. On She's so unusual [CD]. CBS.

Laswell, G. (2007). Girls just want to have fun [adapted from lyrics by Robert Hazard]. Vanguard Records. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5VjtJyoqJQ

And another possibility: as you may have noticed there is sometimes more meaning given to a song by its video than its lyrics or the singing of them, so a reference to a song might actually want to cite the specific video context. I've mentioned this before in my post on citing from Youtube. But for another example, let's imagine I've cited some significant aspect particularly of the video elements of OK Go's video above and not just because its here and I know because they mention it at the YouTube site that they share credit for the video direction with Brian Perkins:

We might perhaps list it then as:

Perkins, B. L. & OK Go (Directors). (2009). This too shall pass [Performed by OK Go and featuring the Notre Dame marching band] [music video]. Capitol Records. Retrieved 30 May 2010 from http://www.okgo.net/2010/05/28/the-little-things/

Yale discusses the ambiguity in citing conventions for Television, Radio Program or Music Videos, because they're created by groups, but they suggest that as long as the basic elements are present, one might (as I suggest) if focussing on a particular contribution, cite and list by that contributor.

How to cite a game in APA style

edited 1 April 2010

Until now the answer to that question was not here; until now my presence in search results on that question would have stemmed from the fact that I have written in separate posts about both citing and games. And I don't like people to leave with their questions unanswered.

Now, below, I have an answer. BUT: before you use it, check the requirements of the professor or publication for whom you are writing. Please, if you've come here for an answer to the question, please comment with the game you are considering citing and perhaps in what context so I can check my suggestions, and improve them.

While the Publication Manual (APA, 2010) does not give a specific example for citing games, it outlines principles and the basic components. Chuck at APA's blog outlined these entertainingly as Who When What Where in The Generic Reference. The manual also advises us to adapt the examples that are provided as we need. This point is repeated by Timothy McAdoo in The Frankenreference, also at APA's blog.

Jump to:
Suggested format & examples
In-game quotes
Game manual

Electronic games are a form of software, so the example and guidelines (APA, 2010, p. 210) for citing software might seem the place to start. However the first games I wanted to cite were board games, so the software example was not where I went first, and when it came time to cite an electronic game I adapted from my board game guesses.

Even if one were to start at the software example, I think we'd end with the same format (jump to example) because we are permitted to adapt as needed... and we would want to for:

• Author: the guidelines for software seem to indicate that unless an individual has proprietary rights to the software the reference would be cited as an unauthored work, ie, by the title of the game, however isn't it first preferred to credit a corporate author (ie the game developer), than to assume none? There are also cases where developer and publisher are separate entities. I note that WorldCat's citation export tool generally compiles all reference styles for games using corporate authors.
• Date: Unfortunately the example for software (APA, 2010, p. 211) does not use a date, and offers no explanation for this divergence from normal practice: I considered it an error and that the date of publication (or copyright) is appropriate to include. But then again some online games are continually updated so sometimes, depending on the nature of the information being cited, a date might not be as relevant.
• Place of Publication? This information is not usually provided with game software, is the place important in this case?
  

Therefore:
In general, unless required otherwise by the university or publication, I would probably cite the developer, with the reference appearing:

Developer unless principal author is acknowledged. (year). Title (version #, if relevant) [gameformat]. Place of publication: Publisher.

in text: (Developer, Year)

Apparently this works out to be very similar to the style for game citations (based on APA) required by the publication Game Studies.

Examples:

1. Board Game:
   
• Darrow, C. D. (2006). Monopoly: the property trading board game. Eastwood, N.S.W. : Hasbro / Parker.
• Drennan, D. (1986). Zamitar: a battle for survival in space, employing strategy and skill [Board game]. Australia: Author.


2. Offline Electronic Game:
   
• Firaxis Games Inc. (2005). Sid Meier's Civilization IV [PC game]. New York, NY: Take-Two Interactive Software.
• Acclaim Entertainment. (2002). Turok Evolution [Playstation2 game]. Glen Cover, NY: Acclaim Entertainment.


3. Online game:
• Honeyslug. (2009). Ric Rococo: International Art Thief [Flash game]. Honeyslug. Retrieved 28 February 2010 from http://www.miniclip.com/games/art-thief/en/
• Three Rings Design. (2001-2009). Puzzle Pirates. [Java-based game]. San Francisco, CA:Three Rings Design. Retrieved 28 February 2010 from http://www.puzzlepirates.com
  

However, the title-based style is advised by some universities (eg Murdoch). So: do check the requirements of the professor or publication for whom you are writing.

--In-Game quotes

We are usually required to define as close a location as possible within the material. For a book this is by page, on the web by paragraph, from a play by division (Act, Scene, etc and Line).
How can we locate a quote within a game? Perhaps by Level or inter-level; or stage of scenario. I'd like to explore a variety of examples, but will have to get help from my gamer sons and friends.

*****
Please send me examples of interesting or fun quotes from your favourite games - with the most concise but accurate location information for the quote
****

• example quote from within a levelled online game?
  
• example quote from within World of Warcraft or similar quest-based roaming game?
• example quote from acted character in film supporting game storyline?
  
• example quote from another player in an online role playing game - only if the transcript of game play is archived?
  

---Update 24 March 2010:

Game Manual

Yesterday someone stopped by having sought how to cite a game manual. It isn't the first time, and I've had a look at a few game manuals over time, trying to see if there are significant points about game manuals that are different from other books. There isn't really.

Key point: Check the details for the manual - whether they are different from the game, that is:

• Manual author / developer - I did once see a board game's manual whose authorship was credited to an individual, so if citing that manual I'd use the individual's name; however whenever as usual there is no individual author, I consider the developer to be the manual's author.
• Manual date - again is it different from publication date of the game?
• Manual title - the manual son #1 just handed me is titled Ashes: Cricket 2009 which is the same as the game's title so I might add [game manual] to more specifically locate my source. I've also seen untitled... well it was more an instruction sheet than a manual, but the point being... if it doesn't have a title make one, enclosed in [ ]. (Just whipped over to APA's blog to check that, thanks Chuck)
  
• Publisher place & name - I've been assuming that the game manuals that people came here curious to cite would have been published with the game, so this would be same as game publisher. Are there game manuals that were not published with the game?
  

----------
Interestingly (thanks Alison Faix) there are some online games for practicing APA style citations (though not for games):
APA Psych Out by Williams College Libraries focusses on citation of books, chapters and articles but the basic principles of these extend to newer online sources.
APA and MLA Citation Games (jigsaw puzzles really) by University of Washington Trio Training Drag and drop the citation pieces in the correct order for that type, and includes puzzles for music recordings and televised broadcasts.

References:

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

How to cite photographs/images from Flickr in APA

Figure 1. I am a Golden God. (2006), by Piero Sierra, 2007, Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/piero/130565603. Made available under Creative Commons Licence.
MyBloglog told me that someone visited this blog from a Google Search: referencing photographs in apa style

For some reason google pointed to my 'citing vimeo' post. That post doesn't answer the question but I hope this one will, sort of. The search also reminded me of a question I've had in mind for a while: If I used an image/photograph from Flickr in an academic paper, how would I cite and reference it?
Google provided links to university and college citation guidance resources, which raises a point people need to remember... that while APA might be the style guidelines required, institutions and publications frequently amend the guidelines according to their own preferences and thus the institution/publication requirements need to be checked First. Some of the online guidelines looked good to me, although they are not consistent with what I've read in the Publications Manuals of the American Psychological Association 5th or 6th editions (APA, 2001, pgs 198, 175); (APA, 2010, pgs 151, 166, 38). However the examples in both editions don't really address online sources.

1. If the photograph (or a portion of it) is included in the paper then it is a Figure and will be consecutively numbered with other figures and the source (photographer and, if different, copyright holder) will be credited with permission after your Figure's caption (APA, 2010, p.166).
• as for example the above image, which is a pleasant reminder of my strolling meditation in Bendigo while Mr. 16 was bowling in the recent Country Cup.
2. Could it be possible that your paper might refer to (cite) an image, perhaps making some point evidenced by the image without actually including the image in the paper?
   ... then I would guess that it might be treated like a text data/information source.
• I can't think of an example (please readers send me one) of a truly valid academic reference to a photograph that would not itself be included in the paper... so let's pretend I am rephrasing or referring to a point made by a rather lovely image of a rainbow over SMB (moonflowerdragon, 2008) <-- citation.="" in-text="" li="">
• in this case the bibliographic or reference list entry could be:
  moonflowerdragon. (2008). Rainbow over SMB, [online image]. Retrieved October 5, 2009, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonflowerdragon/3130940612/

An interesting feature of Flickr (and possibly other online photo storage services) is that when images are uploaded from a digital camera, data about the photo is also uploaded - including the date it was taken. So: if the precise date of the image was relevant it could be included in the caption.

The Flickr screen name of the photographer of the above photo appears to be a real name, were that not the case I would check the user's profile page and its url to check for a real name, but when no real name is available we use the given screen name. Or if you have Zotero with Firefox, and you capture the citation by clicking the photo icon in the address bar, then Zotero will grab the artist's name for you. Zotero does not include [online image] in its APA style for images.

Examples of citations of photographs (eg: online database, books, journals, websites) in APA style are given by Calpoly. However you may note that Calpoly appear to prefer that the full citation of source would be given in the bibliography rather than the Caption Note of the image.

Update: 12 Jan 2015 While I have closed comments to cut-off the spam, I still want to help puzzle through the query that led you here, so if this post is not enough, you're welcome to ask me through the index to my APA style citing series.

References:

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Citing Vimeo in APA Style

Darn, I can't come up with a context in which I would cite the fantastic video below. There are more authoritative sources for the chemical facts it contains, and I know nothing about animation to refer to the techniques or effects Christopher Hendryx (2009) uses.

Well that should do I guess to get to the point, which was to give an example of citing Vimeo in APA Style, which would appear in my reference list as:

Hendryx, C. (2009). Oxygen [video]. Retrieved May 7, 2009 from http://vimeo.com/4433312

Unless of course one wanted to cite an aspect of the video that was contributed by someone else... for that video, perhaps some aspect of the narration (very appealing, I'd listen to Andrew Bailes (2009) again :D )... In that case:

Bailes, A. (Narrator). (2009). Oxygen [video]. Retrieved May 7, 2009 from http://vimeo.com/4433312

(or see a different example, citing an interviewee, below the video)

What makes it fantastic to me is the FUN presentation of basic information about Oxygen (and its interaction with Iron, Barium and Helium), perfect for an educational setting. I'd love to see a whole series of similar videos presenting the qualities of other elements (as would other viewers, like Steven White, {sad that I could not link directly to any of the comments at Vimeo}).

Oxygen from Christopher Hendryx on Vimeo.

I wonder will anyone read this far?

Okay, say we have a video that contains a few interviews, and we are citing only one of the interviewees? Perhaps David Rosenthal's (2009) points about his Doctors 2.0 endeavour within the video The Next Generation of Doctors. I would do this:

Rosenthal, D. (Interviewee) (2009). The Next Generation of Doctors. [Video] Retrieved August 21, 2009, from http://vimeo.com/5379566

Please tell me which video you're planning to cite in your paper?

Playing with YouTube - no really: a game... in YouTube

I went looking for examples of citations of YouTube videos in academic papers, but I became distracted by the fourth result to my google search.

Don't start me wondering why, with the search string ... example of YouTube video referenced in academic paper... google gave me Dan Calladine's blog post (2009, Feb 6) about "the best set of YouTube Annotations videos [he's] ever seen".

Sure have some fun with the game (BENandERIC, 2008, November 7) yourself AFTER you tell me where you've seen a paper citing a YouTube video (please because playing the game will take you away from here).




I'm actually looking for new YouTube videos to practice referencing, particularly ones that have
(a) no discernible statement of responsibility (author/creator/producer), so the reference will begin with the video title; or at the other end of the scale
(b) a place and "publisher/distributor" to include in the reference.

The video cited here allowed for additional examples of citing a screen-name, a practice endorsed by APA (2007, p23).

References:

American Psychological Association. (2007). APA Style Guide to Electronic References. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

BENandERIC. (2008, November 7). Play: "BarackPaperScissors". [video]. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2mcdS6ioo8

Calladine, D. (2009, February 6). Barack Paper Scissors - YouTube Annotations. Digital Examples. Retrieved July 14, 2009 from http://digital-examples.blogspot.com/2009/02/barack-paper-scissors-youtube.html

How to cite a blog post comment in APA style?

Citing a comment to a blog post

Update: 5 Dec 2014
While I have closed comments to cut-off the spam, I still want to help puzzle through the query that led you here, so if this post is not enough, you're welcome to ask me through my new blog. 

Update: 5 May 2010
With corrections to the 6th edition APA have not only cleared up their example of citing a blog post, but added an example for citing a comment to a blog post (APA, c2010, p. 6). The examples are only slightly better with three factors still missing without explanation, and on which I ask your opinion:

1. Blog title. With the post, and comment from it, that have been chosen for examples, the blog (which remember is a periodical) title does appear in the URL - however it must be remembered that not all blogs are structured to show their titles in the URLs, and that sometimes blogs are moved. Giving the title for a blog as one does for other periodicals makes it easier for other researchers to find the post (or comment) if the blog is moved after you have cited it.
2. Retrieved date. Blog posts and sometimes blog comments are editable and removable, a retrieval date is advised when our source may be changed.
3. Precise URL, the comment APA cite was one of a multitude, and I think that commenter did comment more than once on that date, the specific URL to the specific comment would be useful.

Update: 10 April 2009
Leaving my original thoughts intact below, I've just been reflecting on how APA erred in their example reference of a weblog post. As it turns out, that example reference is more likely to be of a comment to a blog post. And if one looks at it that way it is almost good, except that it still does not follow APA's own principles and guidelines.
Take a look (APA, 2007, p. 24) and remember it is a faulty example:

bfy. (2007, January 22). Re: The unfortunate prerequisites and consequences of partitioning your mind. Message posted to http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/

Possibly when this example was accessed by APA neither the comment nor the post had a URL of its own (directing reader as closely as possible to the source). Even if that is the case a retrieval date would be appropriate because although comments often cannot be edited they can be deleted.
APA (2007, p.1) advises us to include the same elements, in the same order as you would for a reference to a fixed-media source and add electronic retrieval information.
Comments to blog posts are a little like letters to the editor in print periodicals, but they are directed to and appear with specific blog posts, somewhat like a message board.
APA's style for messages to a message board or mailing list include both the message subject/thread and the name of the message board or mailing list (APA, 2007, p. 24).
"Smith, S. (2006, January 5). Re: Disputed estimates of IQ [Msg 670]. Message posted to ForensicNetwork electronic mailing list, archived at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ForensicNetwork/message/670"
I've finally found an example reference of a letter to the editor in APA style (University of Maryland, 2006).

Citing Sources Using APA, UM Libraries via kwout

I also think that it is most helpful to call things what they are... blog post comments are known as comments, not messages.
So I believe my guess of two years ago is still relatively good although I think now it had too much information. Now I would include:

Comment Author, A. (year, month day). Comment subject if given. Comment posted to Title of blog post. Title of blog. Retrieved day month, year, from comment-specific-URL

Thus for APA's citation as it appears today:

bfy. (2007, January 22). [Comment to blogpost: The unfortunate prerequisites and consequences of partitioning your mind]. Pharyngula. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/01/the_unfortunate_prerequisites.php#comment-322396

Lots of Ifs:
If the comment did not have its own URL then I would keep in mind that sometimes (as for APA's cited blog post) people will comment multiple times particularly when a conversation has been stimulated, so if the commenter made more than one comment in one day a time for the cited comment might be needed for identification.
If the post commented upon did not have its own URL then the date of the original blog post might be required in order to find the post and thus the comment.
If the blog was a multi-author blog whose posts do not have their own URL (does such a blog exist?) then the post author would also be useful for identification.
---------------------------------------
Original post: 4 April 2007 at 21:30
My immediate thought was that a blog comment is a little like a letter to the editor, for which we would make a square bracket form notation after the article title (APA, 2001, pp. 226-227). However do comments have their own titles? or are they untitled? I think I've seen both, though mostly the latter. Does it bear any similarity to citing an exchange of letters - how is that done?
If there are any online suggestions for this task in APA style, I haven't yet googled it. Jerz (2003) uses such square bracket notation [Weblog comment.] for MLA citations. His solution if the comment does not have its own title is to use its first few words, and in addition cites the blog post title, blog post author; blog title and blog sponsor organisation.
I can't find anything specifically similar in APA, but perhaps it might combine electronic referencing with the style for article in an edited work though the "In" wouldn't really fit. Maybe:

Comment Author which maybe be pseudonym, A. (date of comment). Comment subject if any. [Comment to blog post] I. M. BlogpostAuthor, (date of blog post) Title of blog post. Title of Blog. Retrieved day month, year, from URL

Walker (2003) suggests that it is like citing a posting to an email discussion list although neither of her examples represent APA format for messages posted to electronic mailing lists which is:

Author, A. (year, month day). Message subject. Message posted to Title of electronic mailing list, archived at URL

however if that is converted to context of blog comment it might be:

Author, A. (year, month day). Comment subject if given. Comment posted to Title of blog {? or title of blog post?), archived at URL {or would that be retrieved from?}

That might look a little neater (and briefer) but does it provide enough information? Perhaps if it was expanded with dates and had both blog post title and blog title?

Author, A. (year, month day). Comment subject if given. Comment posted to Title of blog post by blog post author. (blogpost date). In Title of blog. Retrieved day month, year, from URL

I prefer the use of square brackets if the comment has its own title, but if not then: Comment posted to...etc.
Does it need to be mentioned that the URL would be the permalink for the comment if it has one?
How do you, in APA style, cite blog comments?

References:

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. (2007). APA Style Guide to Electronic References. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. (c2010). Corrections to the First Printing of the Publication Manual
of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (July 2009) [online document]. Retrieved 5 May, 2010 from http://supp.apa.org/style/PM6E-1st-Printing-Reprint-Corrections.pdf
Jerz, D. G. (2003, December 11). Citing a weblog comment in MLA style. Jerz's Literacy Weblog. Retrieved 3 April, 2007, from http://jerz.setonhill.edu/weblog/permalink.jsp?id=2001
University of Maryland Libraries. (2006, August). Citing Sources Using the APA Style Manual. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/citing_apa.html#editorial
Walker, J. (2003, December 13). Citing weblogs. [Comment to blog post] by D. G. Jerz, (2003, December 11) How to cite weblogs and weblog comments in MLA style. Kairosnews. Retrieved 3 April, 2007, from http://kairosnews.org/how-to-cite-weblogs-and-weblog-comments-in-mla-style#comment-2551

Faulty example by APA for citing weblog posts

Update 25 May 2010

With corrections to the first printing of the 6th edition, APA have not only cleared up their example of citing a blog post, but added an example for citing a comment to a blog post (APA, c2010, in pdf sorry, p. 6). The examples are only slightly better: three factors are still missing without explanation:

1. Blog title. Although the post, and comment from it, that have been chosen for examples, the blog (which remember is a periodical) title does appear in the URL - however it must be remembered that not all blogs are hosted such that their titles show in the URL, and that sometimes blogs are moved. In such cases the title of the blog in which the post appeared might make it easier for other researchers to find the post (or comment) if the blog is moved after you have cited it. While in many cases author and article title might be sufficient, authors do write in different blogs, and over time might conceivably use the same article title in two or more different places.
   *By default I would encourage people to provide the Blog Title unless it would only duplicate information contained elsewhere in the reference (such as for this blog, where my name as author is the same as the blog's title).
   
2. Retrieved date. Blog posts and sometimes blog comments are editable and removable, a retrieval date is advised when our source may be changed.
3. Precise URL, the comment APA cite was one of a multitude, and I think that commenter did comment more than once on that date, the specific URL to the specific comment would be useful.

Originally posted:

Just over two years ago I explored how I would cite and reference a weblog post in APA style.

I discovered some time since that APA published in 2007 a revised and updated version of section 4.16 (Electronic References) of their Publication Manual, however I didn't want to pay for a copy to see whether it said anything about citing blogs. So it was only recently when the library in which I work processed a print copy of the new guide that I was able to see whether my guesses are compatible with official APA style requirements.

Following the principles and guidelines spelled out in the guide, I stand by my guesses.

Unfortunately, APA provided an example labelled Weblog Post. Has anyone else seen it? What did you think?

In my opinion APA's example 49. Weblog post is a Fail ... for a start their citation is for a comment to a post, not to the post itself... but more on that later.

I first suspected a problem when I saw that APA had decided that a weblog is more like a message board, discussion group or forum than an online periodical or even a well-organised regularly updated website. I think that decision is a mistake, maybe resulting from a writer/editor who did not understand the nature of blogging, or hadn't viewed very many?

APA's example reference for a weblog post citation (p.24) does not follow APA's principles for directing readers as closely as possible to the source you used and using a retrieval date when content may be changed or updated (p.2). See for yourself:

Their example (I haven't worked out how to give the first line a negative indent):

bfy. (2007, January 22). Re: The unfortunate prerequisites and consequences of partitioning your mind. Message posted to http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/

Reading the URL you'll immediately recognise a lack of post-specific URL... perhaps Scienceblogs did not have post-specific URLs when APA found this alleged weblog post, when was that? Oh that's right, for some reason APA have decided not to mention when they retrieved this alleged post from the weblog.

Well there is a date, so lets go to the blog and just chase down the post. Hm, the first thing I noticed was that PZ Myers is the author of the blog Pharyngula. That's odd, well maybe bfy was a guest blogger that day? Scrolling through previous after previous within January 2007 we eventually reach January 22 and find that indeed at 5:59pm that day PZ Myers himself posted The unfortunate prerequisites and consequences of partitioning your mind. What is going on?

Perhaps you guessed before I found the next problem with a text search for bfy: APA have referred to a comment to a blog post. Now maybe when APA accessed the blog its comments did not have their own URL, but how could they mistake a blog post for one of its comments? Is that like mistaking the author of a poem or short story with the editor who compiles an anthology, or a letter to a magazine with the original article on which they comment?

So, APA?
Please redo your work on citing weblogs:

1. Distinguish between posts and comments upon those posts.
2. First example should be for a regular post with its own URL.
   
3. Is any other example necessary? ie are there blogs that do not give posts their own URL?
   

On a better note:
I think the example is probably almost suitable as a reference for citing a comment to a weblog.

Almost. :) But I'll write about that in an update to my earlier post on citing a blog post comment.

How to cite a span of Twitter tweets in APA style

To catch you up: John Dupuis almost pulled me away from my fishing with his question about how one would cite from Twitter...in my last post I puzzled through (for myself at least) how I might cite an individual tweet.

But the tricky part of John's question remained:

• what about when the cited message (cheats) actually spans several tweets? such as the 4 part Twitter message that John cobbled together for his readers but which we can hopefully see with a kwout:
  

Clay Shirky (cshirky) on Twitter via kwout

Even combined I still see these as a part of a blog-type online periodical?

So, the quote John "cobbled" was from the ?online periodical? titled Clay Shirky (cshirky) on Twitter.

Because the tweets are consecutive and all published on the same day at practically the same time could they be considered to be pages of that day's issue of that periodical? If so, remember that a 'page' specification would be cited in-text rather than in the reference.

Although Twitter posts are named with digits, they are not consecutive and they are large so using those digits as page numbers would be cumbersome and confusing to readers (eg /status/1362459269 ; 1362458547 ; 1362458174 ; 1362457866).

Could we use the date/time of publication as be a page reference? (with this I worry that the time/date we see at Twitter might depend on our timezone?)

(Shirky, 2009, Mar 20, 12:29pm-12-30pm)

Shirky, C. [a.k.a cshirky] (2009, March 20). [4 tweets beginning: (1/4) The "Web vs. Print" ...] Clay Shirky (cshirky) on Twitter. Retrieved March 24, 2009 from http://twitter.com/cshirky

Is that time/date accurate for your viewing of Clay's Twittering? If not, could one include a timezone?

Although I'd understand that citation enough to find the source, I'd guess that it would not enter well into tools like Zotero, Endnote or Refworks.

Please, please, please... tell me how you would cite John's quote of Clay's tweets?


...aside...

In the process of this puzzling I tried out Gunther Eysenbach's suggestion commented on my citing-a-blog-post description about WebCite. I tested it: http://www.webcitation.org/5fWCODaYB but had the curious experience of having the collection of tweets disappear after 7 seconds, leaving only the background image.

How to cite Twitter posts in APA style

While fishing outside Stromgarde Keep this evening I was also Bloglining... as one does ;-D

But the funny thing is I was almost tempted to stop fishing by John Dupuis' question:

Confessions of a Science Librarian: Clay Shirky on Web vs. Print via kwout

Perhaps it is even funnier that I didn't stop fishing? Still the realm went down for maintenance so I'm up late now because I simply must puzzle towards an answer, even if just for myself, or else BURST :P

Well an answer about citing Twitter posts, not about doing it with Zotero or Endnote - are they better at such things than Refworks?

At first I thought Tweets are just short blog posts, and I've described how I would cite blogposts in APA style. To save you jumping back, this was somewhat my conclusion:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2000, Jan 27). Title of post. Title of Blog. Retrieved month day, year, from source post specific URL.

... however I wonder:

• what is a tweet's title?
• what is the 'blog' title?
• I already know I can get the URL of a specific tweet but
• what about when the cited post (cheats) actually spans several tweets? such as the 4 part Twitter message that John cobbled together for his readers but which I can show with a kwout maybe:

Clay Shirky (cshirky) on Twitter via kwout

So what I know first, considering only an individual tweet:

Stable URL: each Tweet is followed (usually?/always? in italics) by when and from where it was posted... and the when is a hyperlink to the stable URL. In the following kwouted example, hover over the time/date (now this is odd, does it say 6:00 AM Mar 20th for you?) to see the tweet's URL is http://twitter.com/dupuisj/status/1356028444

Twitter / John Dupuis: Ref Q: I'm a 1st yr and lo ... via kwout

sometimes the when is relative...(I wonder whether this will appear different when today is over?... I think it will, when I cut it the when read about 18 hours ago)...

Twitter / MrTom: Twitter will get you fired ... via kwout

What do you think of Kwout's answer to the title question? Beads suggests the same: That the title of a HTML web page can be taken from the <TITLE> element of that page (which displays in the browser's Title Bar).

However, do you note that the <TITLE> Twitter creates (and Kwout uses) for an individual post begins "Twitter / authorname:" and continues with, logically, the first few words of the post ? If we use that as the individual post title and consider the collection of an author's tweets to be the blog/periodical that Twitter <TITLE>s, for example: John Dupuis (dupuisj) on Twitter ? Then citing Twitter posts as if from a blog would result in a cumbersome reference like:

Dupuis, J. (Mar. 19, 2009). Twitter / John Dupuis: Ref Q: I'm a 1st yr and lo ... John Dupuis (dupuisj) on Twitter. Retrieved Mar. 24, 2009 from http://twitter.com/dupuisj/status/1356028444

So

Perhaps <TITLE> serves multiple functions and different ones for different websites? [Can someone send some examples?]. In this case Twitter's <TITLE> for an individual post appears to combine a post title sensibly taken from the first few words of the post with a reasonable periodical title? Thus:

Mr Tom. (Mar. 24, 2009). Twitter will get you fired ... Twitter / MrTom Retrieved March 24, 2009 from http://twitter.com/MrTom/status/1377448350

OR

if one is really stuck on using <TITLE> as it is given one might treat the individual tweet as an individual web document? and thus simply:

Dupuis, J. (Mar. 19, 2009). Twitter / John Dupuis: Ref Q: I'm a 1st yr and lo ... Retrieved Mar. 24, 2009 from http://twitter.com/dupuisj/status/1356028444

What do you think?

Still I doubt either of those questions in any way stumped John. His question I am guessing is "how do you cite a Twitter message that spans multiple tweets?" and I think my puzzling on this should become a new post ...



but what was she saying?

When a player guides...

I've been thinking lately about how I have been introducing friends and colleagues to the web2.0 tools that have given me so much fun learning.

Coincidentally, today I noticed Helene Blowers' presentation From Players to Guides and took a look to see whether her advice matches my style.

After reflecting on the importance of playing for learning, Helene turns to becoming a guide, which she identifies as "a person who exhibits and explains points of interest" (Blowers, 40/67). Helene advises becoming a Discovery Guide, orienting on learning rather than training and focusing on FUN. Learning in which exposure is the first step and where learners have as much to share as guides.

There are two slides that remind me of training and collaborative volunteering with the Australian Breastfeeding Association, and that I believe will be tumbling in the back of my mind while I continue holidaying:

Slide 57 From Players to Guides by Helene Blowers

Slide 58 From Players to Guides by Helene Blowers

and keeping in mind the daily dozen who visit this blog from searches for guidance on referencing citations of blogs or online videos in APA style, here is a guess at referencing a citation of a presentation stored at Slideshare in APA style:

Blowers, H. (2008). From players to guides: Learning Strategies for a 2.0 World. [Presentation]. Retrieved September 22, 2008 from Slideshare website http://www.slideshare.net/hblowers/from-players-to-guides-presentation

How to cite a YouTube video in APA style

UPDATED: 5 March 2010

More recently a googler landed here from the query: ...directly quoting from youtube apa...

My original post did not contain a significant point for directly quoting: location reference.
{Note: A location reference would also be desirable if paraphrasing a point that does not represent the whole of the cited work.}

In APA style a location reference is included with the in-text citation rather than in the reference list: (Author, year, location) or Author stated (Year, location).

To locate a quote within a video I would use a time reference, eg:

"No monkeys were harmed in the making of this film" (Booth, 2006, 3:36)

Back to original post with minor edits:

I apologise if this page took a while to load, I love these videos because my boys love World of Warcraft.

I haven't really had occasion to need to cite a video myself, but as MyBlogLog tells me that visitors have browsed by my 'cite-a-blog' and 'cite-a-blog-comment' posts from google searches seeking APA style citation guidance for youtube videos, I've been wondering...

First, to cite a video seems on the surface quite simple:

• title would be the video title [from the YouTube page only if there is no titling within the video itself],
  
• as an electronic source there would be 'Retrieved -date- from URL' [since 6th edition, retrieval date not required unless source is likely to be changed] and 
  
• author would be the producer of the video if known... which begs another question: identifying the producer. However for now, one calls to mind that
  
• APA citation style for audiovisual media varies from print material in that the function of the originator or primary contributors is designated in parentheses, and the nature of the work in brackets after the title (American Psychological Association [APA], 2001, p. ?)... which brings to mind the music video which begs another question (if one's commentary refers to the music content is the reference to the song writer and if relevant performer?; and if one's commentary refers to the visual content is the reference to the video producer?; or does one in any case reference both?)
  

Back to identifying the producer:

1. If the video includes an appropriate credit - great use that, (although one still has those questions about specific reference to either music or video content in music video).
   
2. Many YouTube videos do not have credits, and there is a distinct possibility that people might post videos they did not create, such as the Slingshot Fun video in McConnell Library's example (McConnell Library, 2007) so that it might be best not to attribute to the YouTube member who posted it [and in this case cite and reference by the title], however:
   
3. The personal web-cam style videos, apparently home-made by the one who posts them to YouTube - can they be credited to that one? If 'apparently' is not enough, what if the video's description contains a claim of creation? [I think if you believe the one who uploaded made the video, then cite their screen-name if they don't provide a proper name]
4. What then about YouTube's "director" videos?
   

Perhaps I should test some... what about ....

Credit given in video:

If I comment upon Mike Spiff Booth's video content... maybe:

Apparently no monkeys were harmed in the making of Mike Spiff Booth's video Code Monkey (2006, 3:36).

to list in the reference list:

Booth, M. S. (Producer). (2006, September 23) Code Monkey [music video]. Retrieved May 18, 2007 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA

however, would I cite songwriter and video producer both if I wrote something like:

The way Mike Spiff Booth shows it (Coulter & Booth, 2006) one is left uncertain whether Code Monkey gets the girl or just imagines he does "one day".

with a reference:

Coulter, J. (Songwriter & Performer) & Booth, M. S. (Videoproducer). (2006). Code Monkey [music video]. Retrieved May 18, 2007 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA

Credit/responsibility appearing to belong to YouTube member/poster:

in text:
...when tipping in a loose page, only a minute amount of pva is required (molly1216, 2006, 0:17)...

Reference:

molly1216. (2003). How to tip in a loose page [video]. Retrieved May 18, 2007 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD457Dr1jx0

But what about characters:

Might one do this?
in text:

According to Ol'Chumbucket and Cap'n Slappy (2003, 0:47) "Avast" means 'stand and give attention'.

Reference:

Ol'Chumbucket & Cap'n Slappy. (2003). Talk Like a Pirate Day: The Five A's [video]. Retrieved May 18, 2007 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cKCkbWDGwE

References

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Americal Psychological Association.
McConnell Library, Radford University. (2007, March 1). Citation Style Guides. Retrieved May 18, 2007 from http://lib.radford.edu/Resources/handouts/styleguides.asp#websiteno

How does one cite a blog post in APA style?

Citing a blog post in APA style

(Citing a comment to a blog post is a different story)

Update: 5 Dec 2014
While I have closed comments to cut-off the spam, I still want to help puzzle through the query that led you here, so if this post is not enough, you're welcome to ask me through my new blog. 

Update 25 May 2010: APA's amended 6th edition example slightly better...

But it needs more explanation, particularly as there are likely to be cases where following their example could lead to the source becoming lost for lack of information. With corrections to the first printing of the 6th edition, APA have corrected faults in their earlier example of citing a blog post, and included an example for citing a comment to a blog post (APA, c2010, in pdf sorry, p. 6). Unfortunately three factors are still missing without explanation:

1. Blog title. For the post, and comment from it, that have been chosen for examples, the blog title is contained the URL - however it must be remembered that not all blogs are hosted such that their titles show in the URL, and that sometimes blogs are moved. In such cases the title of the blog in which the post appeared might make it easier for other researchers to find the post (or comment) if the blog is moved after you have cited it. While in many cases author and post title might be sufficient, authors do write in different blogs, and over time might conceivably use the same post title in two or more different places.
   *By default I would encourage people to provide the Blog Title unless it would only duplicate information contained elsewhere in the reference (such as for this blog, where my name as author is the same as the blog's title).
2. Retrieved date. Blog posts and sometimes blog comments are editable and removable, a retrieval date is advised when our source may be changed.
3. Precise URL, the comment APA cite was one of a multitude, and I think that commenter did comment more than once on that date, the specific URL to the specific comment would be useful.

Update 28 April 2009: a.k.a screen-name

For my original post I could not find a word from APA on how to cite an author who uses a screen-name. Apparently since the 2007 update we are to use the author's real name if it is available, but if not then to use the screen-name as given (APA, 2007, p23).

Is this consistent with the APA style principle to provide enough information for the reader to find the source? Land (1998) proposed inclusion of an [a.k.a screen-name] sub-element... which would allow the source-checker to properly identify the item written under a screen-name. I'd prefer something like [as: screen-name] because it indicates how the author named themselves in the cited instance. To me "also known as" confusingly suggests that the author identified themselves by their real name when they are potentially better known by their screen-name. I'm curious how an [a.k.a] or [as: ] author sub-element might be handled by automated referencing tools.

Update 10 April 2009: APA's faulty example

See more recent update above. I have since discovered that APA (2007) has published a revised and updated version of section 4.16 (Electronic References). APA's example for a weblog post is a fail... for a start their citation is for a comment to a post, not to the post itself... In a new post I'll explain and encourage APA to edit their new guide as soon as possible. I encourage people citing blogs to use APA principles and guidelines rather than the failed if an example might be insufficient.

Original post 4 April 2007:

Clancy (2003) proposed one method for citing a blog post:

Vaidhyanathan, S. (2003). Universities, RIAA, and academic freedom. Sivacracy.net: Siva Vaidhyanathan's weblog. Retrieved April 26, 2003, from http://www.nyu.edu/classes/siva /2003_04_23_blogarchive.html#200187673.

which I would only alter so that the publication date is in full, periodical (blog) title appears in italics and the whole thing not end in a period (fullstop):

Vaidhyanathan, S. (2003, April 23). Universities, RIAA, and academic freedom. Sivacracy.net: Siva Vaidhyanathan's weblog. Retrieved April 26, 2003, from http://www.nyu.edu/classes/siva /2003_04_23_blogarchive.html#200187673

I'd have commented with my humble opinion to his post but I don't want to register to do so, having never been by Kairosnews before, and only stopping by today via my own google search for answers about referencing blog posts in APA style.
Citing similarly to Clancy is Scheidt [a.k.a prolurkr] (2004):

alan (Nov. 4, 2003). BlogWondering (what the heck is a blog?). BlogShop. Retrieved Nov. 22, 2004 from http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/blogshop/archives/000282.html

It has been a vexing question for me in preparing my TAFE assignments. I have been working on a variety of assumptions:
When the blog has a distinct title I start from the Online periodical form (American Psychological Association [APA], 2001, p. 223):

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2000). Title of article. Title of Periodical, xx, xxx-xxx. Retrieved month day, year, from source.

but provide the exact date on the publication (APA, 2001, p. 225; cel4145, 2003,), the title or subject line of the blog post as the article, the name of the blog as the periodical and as most blogs do not have volume or issue numbers xx, xxx-xxx would be omitted. Also, according to the examples (APA, 2001, pp 272-281) and instruction (APA, 2001, p. 231) the citation would, after the source being a URL, not end in a full-stop (period, dot).
For example:

Shirky, C. (2005, January 27). Folksonomies + controlled vocabularies. MANY 2 MANY. Retrieved 14 March, 2007, from http://many.corante.com/archives/2005/01/07/folksonomies_controlled_vocabularies.php

The issue of volumes and issues does remind me of situations where blogs have moved from one place to another and the original site may stay up indefinitely. If one has referenced either site that shouldn't be a problem I guess. What if the whole blog is not moved, that is, what if the first few years of the blog remain in the first place, and the new place only contains from the moving date on? Then I guess that whichever I reference, so long as I do so precisely, will remain relevant.
When the blog is more a tool within a larger website (and doesn't have a clearly designated title) I've started with the online document form (APA, 2001, p. 223):

Author, A. A. (2000). Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from source.

using subject line of the blog post for the title of the work, and giving name of the organisation (APA, 2001, p. 274) and section of their website in case the URL becomes irrelevant if the organisation restructures their website.
For example:

Blyberg, J. (2007). New website enhancements. Retrieved 22 January, 2007 from Ann Arbor District Library, Library News weblog: http://www.aadl.org/node/3534

It looks like I've followed instructions without realising it, because I've just discovered the instruction to look over the general forms and follow the format of the example most like my source and when in doubt "provide more information rather than less" (APA, 2001, p. 232).

References:

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

American Psychological Association. (2007). APA Style Guide to Electronic References. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. (c2010). Corrections to the First Printing of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (July 2009) [online document]. Retrieved 5 May, 2010 from http://supp.apa.org/style/PM6E-1st-Printing-Reprint-Corrections.pdf


cel4145. (2003, April 27). Comment posted to blog post by Clancy. (2003, April 26). How do you cite a blog post in your bibliography? Kairosnews. Retrieved 3 April, 2007, from http://kairosnews.org/how-do-you-cite-a-blog-post-in-your-bibliography#comment-1616


Clancy. (2003, April 26). How do you cite a blog post in your bibliography? Kairosnews. Retrieved 3 April, 2007, from http://kairosnews.org/node/1830



Land, T. [a.k.a Beads] (1998, October 15). Web Extension to American Psychological Association Style (WEAPAS) (Rev. 1.6). Retrieved 10 April, 2009, from http://www.beadsland.com/weapas/
Scheidt, L. [a.k.a. prolurkr] (2004, December 12). Blog citation when found in an intervening blog. Professional-Lurker: Comments by an academic in cyberspace. Retrieved 4 April, 2007, from http://www.professional-lurker.com/archives/000335.html