MLA Handbook Plus is a new, subscription-based digital product providing online access to the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. To learn more about MLA Handbook Plus, you can view our demo of the platform. Librarians and other institutional buyers can request a free trial on our Get Access page. Sign up below to get updates on MLA Handbook Plus and learn when new content has been added.
We created MLA Handbook Plus because we heard that users needed a version of the handbook that could be discovered and accessed by site license through a school’s digital library collections.
Our goal, as always, is to provide instructors with clear guidelines, students with the best tools to effectively learn and use MLA style, and writers at all levels access to the advice they need. Read on to learn more about the content and user experience design of MLA Handbook Plus.
Content
The cornerstone of MLA Handbook Plus is the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook, released in print in spring 2021. The ninth edition was created in direct, sustained dialogue with the instructors, librarians, and students around the world who use the handbook every day. A comprehensive reference work and textbook, the new handbook features
- 400 pages
- seven chapters, three of which are devoted to documentation
- 142 visual examples
- over 500 sample citations
- two appendixes
- a comprehensive index
A handy chart compares how the new handbook stacks up against the previous edition.
Access, Accessibility, and Interactive Enhancements
MLA Handbook Plus meets WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards. It is available to an unlimited number of simultaneous users at subscribing institutions, who get access to the platform from their institution’s network. Using the site is intuitive and straightforward, requiring no special training. Students can also create free accounts allowing them access to the platform off-campus for designated periods of time, because we know it is essential that students have uninterrupted access to important course and reference materials like the MLA Handbook regardless of physical proximity to their institution’s libraries. Students can also access the platform from any browser or device, because students have different technological needs and preferences. For more information about how students, faculty members, and other authorized users at subscribing institutions can access the site, check out our FAQ.
Everything in the ninth edition of the handbook is available on MLA Handbook Plus, but this is so much more than an e-book. We’ve added features that enhance the content and make learning and teaching MLA style even easier. For example, throughout the site, you’ll find lots of cross-linking of related content. To reinforce core concepts, we also added a split-view feature to allow students to see figures and illustrations while reading corresponding content, so exploring the handbook is even more interactive.
Navigation and Search
Designed for easy navigation, the print handbook has sections numbered continuously through each chapter. Cross-references at the end of sections point out related information covered elsewhere in the handbook, figure references are clearly delineated from the text, and figures are easily readable alongside the instructional text.
MLA Handbook Plus uses the same numbering of sections, so students and instructors can easily go back and forth between MLA Handbook Plus and the print and e-book editions. But because long chapters are harder to digest and navigate online, content in MLA Handbook Plus is presented in smaller, discrete sections. And different pathways through the text are available: for example, a learner’s tour gives students new to MLA style access to the most critical information to help them get started.
We designed the search functionality of MLA Handbook Plus to allow students to quickly find the most relevant information and the hundreds of works-cited-list examples listed by format in the handbook’s appendix. With their free personal account, students can save searches for quick access, and instructors can include specific search results in their LMS or course materials to help illustrate particular concepts.
Even More
While the MLA Handbook is the core content of MLA Handbook Plus, the platform also contains the full text of two companion titles, the MLA Guide to Digital Literacy and the MLA Guide to Undergraduate Research in Literature. A video course, MLA Style 101, makes teaching MLA style easier than ever, with a series of short lessons accompanied by quizzes and a final assessment. Annual updates to MLA Handbook Plus allow MLA style to change and evolve with student needs and usage conventions.
Find Out More
Want to get updates on MLA Handbook Plus as it evolves? Sign up below.