Produced by the Modern Language Association of America, the MLA International Bibliography indexes critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics and folklore. Coverage includes journal articles, series, monographs, dissertations, bibliographies, proceedings and other materials. The database includes all records indexed from 1963 to the present, approximately 1,400,000 records.
The MLA International Bibliography provides a thesaurus to help users broaden or refine searches. Ovid features include a menu-driven thesaurus tool, a permuted index, on-screen search tips and database specific limits.
The following alphabetical list provides the two-letter label, the relevant alias, and an example for each MLA International Bibliography field:
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Label Name/Example
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AN Accession Number [Phrase Indexed]
94097323.an.
The Accession Number (AN) field contains a unique eight-digit number
assigned to each document. The first two digits of the number refer to
the bibliography year.
AU Author [Word and Phrase Indexed]
irving john.au.
The Author (AU) field contains the Author(s) as they appear in the
original document. The format for author names is last name followed by
first name and middle names and/or initials. Editors are specified with
(ED) following their name. Any other non-author role, such as
illustrator, is also indicated in this field.
BL Place of Publication [Word Indexed]
los angeles.bl.
The Place of Publication (BL) field contains the city and state for US
journals and city and country for foreign journals. It will display as
part of the Source (SO) field.
BK Book Citation
india.bk.
The Book Citation (BK) field contains the title of the work in which the
book article appears, the editors of the work and the pagination of the
book article.
BT Collection Title [Word Indexed]
elephant.bt.
The Collection Title (BT) field contains the title of the work in which
the book article appears. The Collection Title appears in the Book
Citation (BK) field.
DI Degree Granting Institute [Word Indexed]
columbia.di.
The Degree Granting Institute (DI) field contains the name of the
institution that granted the degree. This field is present for
dissertations.
DN Dissertation Abstract Number [Phrase Indexed]
9331076.dn.
The (DN) field contains the Dissertation Abstract Number, the Degree
Granting Institution and the year the dissertation was published.
Searches in this field display in the DN, DI, and DY fields.
DP Date of Publication [Phrase Indexed]
1993.dp.
The Date of Publication (DP) field contains the date of publication for
journal articles, the year of publication for books and book articles
and the degree granting year for institutions.
EC Electronic Comment [Display Only]
An Electronic Comment (EC) field is now included in the MLA database.
The Electronic Comment field contains information on how articles
should be submitted.
ED Collection Editors [Word and Phrase Indexed]
snapper johan p.ed.
The Collection Editors (ED) field contains the name(s) of the editor(s)
of a collection of book articles.
EJ Electronic Journal Available [Word Indexed]
An Electronic Journal Available (EJ) field is now included in the MLA
database. The Electronic Journal Available field contains the URL
address of the journal online.
HW Subject Heading Word [Word Indexed]
utopia$.hw.
Sometimes you may wish to retrieve every subject heading that includes a
particular word; this is done by searching the single word in the
Subject Heading Word (HW) field.
IB ISBN [Phrase Indexed]
0-06-250901-2 pbk.ib.
The ISBN (IB) field contains the International Standard Book Number
(ISBN). The ISBN appears as a number separated by hyphens (show hyphens
in your search). The ISBN may be followed by the designation "hbk" for
hardcover books or "pbk" for paperback books.
IP Issue/Part [Word Indexed]
25.ip.
The Issue/Part field (IP) contains the issue and/or part for a
particular volume of a journal. The IP field usually displays as part
of the Source (SO) field.
IS ISSN [Phrase Indexed]
0012-4273.is.
The ISSN (IS) field contains the International Standard Serial Number
(ISSN) for the journal in which an article was published. It appears as
an eight-digit number, separated by a hyphen.
JA Journal Abbreviation [Phrase Indexed]
aarml.ja.
The Journal Abbreviation Search (JA) field contains the abbreviation of
the journal name that is used in the printed bibliography.
JL Journal Location [Word Indexed]
new york.jl.
The Journal Location (JL) field contains the place of publication for
journals. This field is displayed as part of the Source (SO) field.
JN Journal Name [Phrase Indexed]
texto critico.jn.
The Journal Name (JN) field contains the full name of the journal in
which an article was published. This field displays as part of the
Source (SO) field. Journal names are indexed as phrases, so enter
enough letters of the journal name to locate the name in the index:
literature fi (for Literature Film Quarterly). Stopwords such as of and
the are included in the JN index.
JW Journal Word [Word Indexed]
bloomsbury.jw.
The Journal Word (JW) field contains individual words from every journal
name in MLA International Bibliography. Stopwords such as "the" or "of"
are not included. This field is used to retrieve every occurrence of a
journal which includes a particular word, such as "poetry."
LG Language [Phrase Indexed]
spa.lg.
spanish.lg.
The Language (LG) field contains the language(s) of publication of an
article. The language name is searchable in full or as a 3-letter code
(such as fre for French); the codes are usually, but not always, the
first three letters of the language name.
NT Notes [Word Indexed]
antipoemas.nt.
The Notes (NT) field contains an annotation or short abstract, giving
further information about the item. The notes index contains all
searchable words from the notes field. Stopwords such as the and of are
not searchable.
PB Publisher [Word Indexed]
norton.pb.
The Publisher (PB) field consists of the inclusive pagination of a
journal article. This field is usually displayed as part of the Source
(SO) field.
PG Pagination [Word Indexed]
"349".pg.
The Page (PG) field consists of the inclusive pagination of a journal
article. This field is usually displayed as part of the Source (SO)
field.
PT Publication Type [Word and Phrase Indexed]
book article.pt.
The Publication Type (PT) field contains terms assigned to each document
to describe its publication type. Standard publication types include
Journal Articles, Book Article, Book Collection, Book, and Dissertation
Abstract. In addition, information on special
document types may also appear in this field, for example: Book
Bibliography.
SA Series Abbreviation [Phrase Indexed]
canfs.sa.
The Series Abbreviation (SA) field contains the abbreviation of the
series name that is used in the printed bibliography.
SH Subject Heading [Phrase Indexed]
mock heroic poetry.sh.
The Subject Headings (SH) field contains the Subject Headings used by
indexers at the Modern Language Association to describe the content of
a document. You can retrieve documents with Subject Headings either
by performing a command line search or by using the pull-down menu
options under "Tools." The following roles can be applied to terms
for more precise searching:
against in
and influence of
application in influence on
application of of
applied to on
as relationship to
at role in
between role of
by sources in
compared to study example
discusses to and from
during theories of
especially treatment in
for (audience) treatment of
for to
from use in
includes use of
into with
SL Series Place of Publication [Word Indexed]
belgium.sl.
The Series Place of Publication (SL) field contains the place of
publication for books in series. It is usually displayed as part
of the Source (SO) field.
SN Series Number [Phrase Indexed]
"203".sn.
The Series Number (SN) field contains the series number.
SO Source [BL, BT, IP, JL, JN, PB, PG, VO, YR]
harpers.so.
The Source (SO) field contains all of the basic information needed to
locate a citation, including the full Journal or Book Name, Publisher,
the Vol/Issue, pagination and year of publication.
SQ MLA Sequence Number [Word and Phrase Indexed]
94-1-10003.sq.
The Sequence Number (SQ) field contains a number that shows the position
of the record in the printed bibliography. 94-4-2052 means that the
item appears in the MLA 1994 Bibliography, volume 4, item 2052.
ST Series Title [Phrase Indexed]
camera obscura.st.
The Series Title (ST) field contains the series title for books and book
articles. The word "a", which is a stopword in other fields, can be
searched in the title.
TI Title [Word Indexed]
all that jazz.ti.
The Title (TI) field contains the Title of the document. Stopwords such
as "of" or "the" display in documents but will not appear in the Title
index. The word "a", which is a stopword in other fields, can be searched
in the Title field.
UA Uniform Author [Phrase Indexed]
shakespeare william.ua.
A Uniform Author (UA) index is now included in the MLA database. The
Uniform Author index contains all Authors listed in the Subject Heading
field. This index is the best place to search for articles focusing
on specific authors, such as William Shakespeare or Harriet Beecher Stowe.
UP Update Code [Phrase Indexed]
199904.up.
The Update Code (UP) field contains a six-digit number in the format
YYYYNN where YYYY is the bibliography year and NN is the number of the
update.
UT Uniform Title [Word Indexed]
rape of the lock.ut.
A Uniform Title (UT) index has been created for the MLA database.
The Uniform Title index contains all Titles listed in the Subject
Heading field. This index is the best place to search for articles
on specific works, such as The Rape of the Lock or The Handmaid's Tale.
VO Volume [Word Indexed]
54.vo
The Volume (VO) field contains the volume number of a serial
publication. This field displays as part of the Source (SO) field.
YR Year [Word Indexed]
90.yr
1990.yr
The Year (YR) field contains the year in which a document was published.
The publication year can be searched in 2 or 4-digit form.
The following limits are available from the Limit menu on the Main Search Screen:
A limit to Electronic Comment restricts retrieval to documents that have an Electronic Comment field.
A limit to Electronic Journal Available restricts retrieval to documents that have an Electronic Journal Available field.
A limit to Notes restricts retrieval to documents that have a Notes field. The Notes (NT) field contains an annotation or short abstract, giving further information about the item.
A limit to Languages will restrict retrieval to any of the languages indexed by MLA.
A limit to Descriptor Subfields will restrict your retrieval to any of the Descriptor Subfields indexed by MLA. This option will present you with an alphabetic list of Descriptor Subfields such as Folklore Topic, Literary Theme/Motif, or Scholarly Approach.
A limit to Publication Year will restrict retrieval to specified years covered in MLA. If you choose this option you will be prompted to enter the desired year or year range. You may enter a year, such as "1989", or year range in two-digit, "92-96", or four-digit, "1992-1996", format.
A limit to Publication Type will restrict retrieval to any of the publication types indexed by MLA.
A limit to Journal Article will restrict retrieval to documents which are indexed from published journals. Monographs are eliminated by a limit to Journal Article.
Popular Command and Sentence Syntax Limits
Electronic Comment Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to electronic comment Electronic Journal Available Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to electronic journal available Notes Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to notes Descriptor Subfields Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to Folklore Topic Publication Year Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to yr=1996 Command Syntax: ..l/1 yr=1996 Publication Type Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to dissertation abstract Journal Article Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to journal article
Command Syntax: ..c/mlab Sentence Syntax: use mlab
<1> Accession Number 96097275 Authors Buller, David B. Burgoon, Judee K. Title Another Look at Information Management: A Rejoinder to McCornack, Levine, Morrison, and Lapinski Source Communication Monographs. 63(1):92-98. 1996 Mar. Annandale, VA. Subject Headings English language (Modern); pragmatics; role of information management; in deception Notes Rejoinder to 96-3-2375. MLA Sequence Number 96-3-2329 ISSN 0363-7751 Publication Type Journal Article Language English Update Code 9604 Year of Publication 1996 <2> Accession Number 96090864 Authors Bard, Ruth Anne. Title Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Psychobiography Dissertation Information DA9612582. Adelphi U. 1996. Source Dissertation Abstracts International. 56(12):7038B. 1996. Ann Arbor, MI. Subject Headings American literature; 1800-1899; Gilman, Charlotte Perkins; psychobiography; dissertation abstract MLA Sequence Number 96-1-4364 ISSN 0419-4209, 0419-4217, 1042-7279 Publication Type Dissertation Abstract Language English Update Code 9604 Year of Publication 1996
Last revised 10 January 2000