Contents
- Introduction
- Handling Citation Questions: The Basics
- Handling Citation Questions: Go Deeper
- Handling Tricky Citation Questions
- Making Referrals
- Appendix 1: Recommended Citation Guides and Websites
Often, when a student comes to AskAway with a citation question, it’s a tricky citation they have not found a rule or example for. Helping students with these tricky citations often requires your interpretation.
Know Your Own Comfort Level
- How far to take a citation question is up to you but will likely depend on the following:
- How many other chats you’re currently handling
- Your level of comfort handling difficult citation questions
- When helping with a tricky citation, use your best judgment and explain your reasoning to the student.
- If the citation is complicated and requires interpretation, always refer them to their instructor for the final evaluation.
Teach Students to Build Citations
- If no perfect rule or example exists, help the student make their best effort to match an example from the guide.
- You may recommend that the student builds their citation based on rules and examples for more than one type of resource.
Remind Students of the Purpose of Citing
- Take a step back and remind the student of the purpose of citing (i.e. to reference their sources and to show the reader a path back to their original source).
- This will help the student better understand what information they need to include in a citation and why as well as help them justify these choices.