Amazon.com description: Product Description: Since the publication of the first edition in 1977, the MLA Handbook has sold more than three million copies worldwide. Completely revised and updated, the fourth edition presents a comprehensive guide to preparing research papers and contains detailed information on using computers for research and writing and on citing electronic publications.New material in the fourth edition advises students on how to-- use electronic catalogs, central information systems, and CD-ROM and online databases in research-- use computers to compile bibliographies, take notes, and outline and write research papers-- cite electronic publications, including CD-ROMs, diskettes, magnetic tapes, and online databasesThe new edition also features an expanded section on punctuation.The MLA Handbook serves both as a classroom text and as a reference book for students and writers to use independently. Teachers and students of writing, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities fields will find this guide indispensable.About MLA Documentation Style For nearly half a century, the style recommended by the Modern Language Association for scholarly manuscripts and student research papers has been widely adopted by schools, departments, and individual instructors.Today MLA guidelines are used by over 125 scholarly and literary journals, newsletters, and magazines with circulations over 1,000; by hundreds of smaller periodicals; and by many university and commercial presses. MLA style is also commonly used in Canada and other countries; Japanese translations of the MLA Handbook appeared in 1980, 1984, and 1988; and a Chinese translation was published in 1990.In a 1991 article onstyle manuals, Booklist cited MLA documentation style as one of the "big three", along with the guidelines published by the University of Chicago Press and the American Psychological Association.