Where can I find information about how to cite a web address using MLA?

Question

Say I was trying to cite this question and properly format my works cited section using MLA. Where would I look to find information on how to format it?

Answer 1

The OWL at Purdue is my go-to source for MLA information. Check their page for electronic sources, or their home page.

Answer 2

I paraphrased this from Robert Harris' MLA In-Text Citation Style, November 2010. It is based on the Seventh Edition of MLA for Research Writers, 2009, which remains the most current version. Harris distinguishes between a web page and a database. Here is the standard for a web page, or web address, as the question requested.

Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Web site name. Sponsoring organization name, Date of article. Web. Date you accessed article.

Include as much of the information that you can find for the website. If you don't have the date, use n.d. for no date as follows:

Last name, first name. “Article title.” Web site. Sponsoring Organization, n.d. Web. Date you accessed article.

If you don't have the author's name, nor the date of the article:

“Article title.” Web site. Sponsoring Organization, n.d. Web. Date you accessed article.

If the web site name is the same as the organization name, or no organization name is specified:

Last name, first name. "Article title." Site name, Date of article. Web. Date you accessed the article.

If the URL might be difficult to locate, include it in brackets at the end of the citation:

Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Web Site. Sponsoring Organization, Date of article. Web. Date you accessed article. <http://xxxxxx.xxx/....>.

Use exactly the same period and comma placements above for your citation.