Library and Information Science Commons^™

Citation Help In Databases: Helpful Or Harmful?, Jane G. Kessler, Mary K. Van Ullen

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

A review of the help files in several major databases revealed that database vendors have begun including information on citing sources, which has the potential to be very useful to students. Surprisingly, 94% of the citation examples in the databases reviewed had errors. The average number of errors per example was 4.3. The citation help appears to have been put together quickly, with little thought and no proofreading. Librarians must insist that vendors correct or remove this information.