My Research Sources Fill-in-the-Blanks Worksheet

As a librarian, I kept several different types of 'fill in the blank' forms on hand for students to use when gathering bibliographic data for their research project reference list. This was my language arts teachers’ favorite form to use. It is an easy way for students to keep track of their sources and all of the information needed to cite a particular source. The pages include fill-in-the-blank examples for print sources [book, magazine, reference book] and online/Web sources [online encyclopedia or database], as well as for a personal interview, song and citing a photograph or illustration. This form is recommended to use with the PowerPoint entitled “Citing Sources.”

This worksheet was created for middle school and high school students learning how to cite a source properly. Online citation building Web sites are available, too, and online encyclopedia, databases, and some websites have created the citation for students to copy and paste to their reference lists. But for those sources that don't have the citation already written, the worksheets are still handy to have on hand for students to record the bibliographic data for their reference lists.

Note: MLA Style 8th Edition has a few changes, and the form is updated. The important lesson is that students learn how to give credit for borrowed work, their citations look consistent, and they correctly lead back to the sources, more so than if every bit of punctuation is followed.