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MLA Style Guide, 9th Edition: Title of container

This LibGuide reflects the changes to MLA style as directed by the MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition

Title of container (Works Cited)

Title of container is the third core element. Containers are either 1) complete works which contain smaller works, like a book containing essays, a book containing short stories, or an academic journal containing articles, or 2) larger containers holding smaller containers, like a database containing academic journals or a website containing Web pages.

  • The title of the container is italicized and followed by a comma.
  • It is possible for a source to have more than one container, for example an article [title of source] from a journal [title of first container] accessed from an online database [title of second container]. A chapter in a book written by an author who is not the editor and available from an online database provider will also have two containers.

Book with chapters by contributors other than the editor:

Naidoo, Jamie Campbell, and Jennings Bryant. "Books for Children." Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media, edited by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, vol. 2, Sage Publications, 2006, pp. 127-131. eBook Collection (Ebscohost), search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=474265&site=ehost-live.

Collection of essays, stories, poems, etc.:

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Black Cat." Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, edited by Robert DiYanni, 6th ed., McGraw Hill, 2007, pp. 137-43.

Print journal, magazine, or newspaper article: 

Dukes, Charlene. "Recognizing our Camelot Moment." Community College Journal, vol. 86, no. 5, Apr./May 2016, p. 1. 

Journal, magazine, or newspaper article from an online database:

Tucker, Virginia M., et al. “Learning Portals: Analyzing Threshold Concept Theory for LIS Education.” Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, vol. 55, no. 2, Apr. 2014, pp. 150-65. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=taftcoll_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA369065399&asid=5cbca428d287c57403158d0da222da06.

Television series episode:

"Something Nice Back Home." Lost, directed by Stephen Williams, performance by Matthew Fox , season 4, episode 10, Bad Robot, 2008.

Web page:

Meade, Rita. "It's Not Too Late to Advocate." Screwy Decimal, 1 June 2016, www.screwydecimal.com/2016/06/its-not-too-late-to-advocate.html.

Comic book:

Byrne, John and Jim Lee. "The Resurrection and the Flesh." X-Men, vol. 2, no. 4, Marvel Comics, Jan. 1992.