Accurate citations are important in scholarly work because they give readers the ability to find sources, either to check the accuracy of the article or to do further research, said Ruth Ann Jones, MSU libraries communications coordinator and former reference librarian.

“When a scholar is citing something, they need to get all the relevant information so that (when) people who want to look up the (article or book, they can),” Jones said.

Although the digital copies of books and scholarly articles MSU purchases mostly are numbered the same way as the printed versions, versions on e-reading devices vary, Miller said.

“The (articles and books) downloaded on Nooks and Kindles (are) going to vary from publisher to publisher,” she said.

With some e-reading devices, such as the Kindle, page numbers aren’t included. Others have the ability to change font size, which changes the page numbers from their original format.

“The Kindle doesn’t use page numbers because it has different fonts,” said Rita Dunne, a Residential College in the Arts and Humanities and humanities-pre-law senior who owns a Kindle. “If you wanted to say the specific location, outside of highlighting it uses locations.”

Locations tag certain parts of the e-book and are the same on Kindles despite variances in font size.

Students frequently consult the libraries’ reference desks with concerns about citations, Jones said. Citations can be challenging enough without the added worry of various e-book formats, she said.
“It’s a matter of dealing with all these possible variations that the publishers think of,” Jones said. “Since there are so many formats, it’s really hard to write a hard and fast rule that will fit for every possible situation.”

And despite updates, citation manuals can be lacking, Miller said. The library has ordered copies of manuals before that were too rushed and poorly compiled to use, she said.

“Sometimes the citation manuals can’t keep up with the technology,” Miller said. “I think (with) some of these style manuals it takes them so long to reach the realities of what’s out there electronically … we (just) have to use our best judgment.”

Still, Dunne has cited a book she read on her Kindle for class assignments before and it hasn’t been a problem, she said.

“My professor said that it was fine, I just cited the chapter that I (used) … because (of the lack of) page numbers,” Dunne said.

Flexibility is important in citing with new technology, Miller said.

“With e-books … because it’s developing so quickly and technology is moving so fast, people just need to be flexible if there are bumps in the road,” she said.

_Examples and links to citations guides for e-books are available on the MSU libraries website at www.lib.msu.edu/research/cite-resources.jsp. _