LibGuides: MLA Boot Camp: Container

Rules to Remember

When using a source that is part of a larger work (e.g., a Web page on a Web site, a chapter from a book, an article from a journal), the larger work within which the source is housed is known as the container.

The container must be italicized and followed with a comma (,). For example:
- The Catcher In the Rye,

Web sites are considered containers and should be italicized. Individual Web pages should be treated as parts of a larger work (the Web site).

Formatting the Container of A Source

SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLE

Link to Article

MLA Citation for Works-Cited List:

Micle, Maria. "Stereotypes Regarding Libraries and Librarians: An Approach of Romanian School

and Academic Libraries." Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 163, 2014, pp.

92-98. Science Direct, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.291.

NOTE: This entry has TWO (2) containers. That is because the article (source) is contained within the first container (the journal). The journal is contained within the second container (the database).

BOOK CHAPTER

Link to this eBook

MLA Citation for Works-Cited List:

Ghosh, Ranjan. "Making Sahitya Matter." Thinking Literature Across Continents, edited

by Ranjan Ghosh and J. Hillis Miller, Duke University Press, 2016, p. 27.

Link to this eBook

MLA Citation for Works-Cited List:

Ceron, Andrea, et al. Politics and Big Data: Nowcasting and Forecasting Elections with Social Media.

Routledge, 2017.

NOTE: Because we are citing the entire source and not just a chapter, we do not use quotation marks around the title. Instead, we treat the title of the source as we would the container of the source. In this case, we italicize the title of the source.

Link to Website

MLA Citation for Works-Cited List:

"Market Analysis." Starting & Managing. U.S. Small Business Administration, https://www.sba.gov/starting-

business/write-your-business-plan/market-analysis.