How do I cite clip art from a computer program like PowerPoint?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

If you discuss clip art from PowerPoint or another software program in your paper and need to create a works-cited-list entry for it, provide a description of the art in place of a title and list the name of the software program (e.g., PowerPoint) as the container. Then provide the software’s version name and number, the name of the publisher (omitting words such as Company or Corporation), and the copyright date. You will most likely find this information in the About or Help section of the software.

Gray cat. PowerPoint, Microsoft Office Professional Plus, version 14.0.7184.5000, Microsoft, 2010.

If, however, you reproduce the clip art in your paper, you can provide the citation information in a figure caption instead. Note that in a caption, all periods, except the last, are replaced by semicolons, so here the period after Gray cat is replaced by a semicolon.

Gray cat; PowerPoint, Microsoft Office Professional Plus, version 14.0.7184.5000, Microsoft, 2010.