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Boatwright Memorial Library

Citing Multimedia in ASA Format

The ASA Style Guide (2022) furnishes relatively vague direction for citing multimedia and audiovisual content. 

When citations are not otherwise specified, the Style Guide refers readers to the Chicago Manual of Style (2017) on which the ASA format is based.   

In general, both ASA and Chicago require that writers include in citations as many of the following elements as possible:

  • name of person or organization primarily responsible for the content
  • title of the work (in quotation marks or italics as applicable)
  • information about the work (e.g., date and location of recording)
  • information about the publisher (including date of publication)
  • information about the format (e.g., mp3, jpg, tiff, png, etc.)
  • additional information that helps reader locate and retrieve cited source

"For general guidelines for citations and references for other types of audiovisual media (film, sound recordings, slides, filmstrips, videos)," the ASA Style Guide (2022:94) states, "see Chicago Manual of Style (2017:869-73)."  For our purposes, this section of the CMOS (2017) is most relevant.  

See also this guide to attributing Creative Commons content: CC Best Practices for Attribution.

Format

Author (or organization). Year. "Title of work." Medium (format). Title of collection (if applicable). Website from which image was retrieved. Date image was retrieved from internet. URL.

 

Example

Park, Jae. 2018. "Brown Tabby Cat." Image (JPEG). Unsplash.com. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://unsplash.com/photos/7GX5aICb5i4.

 

Format

Creator or organization responsible for creation. Title of work, performer (if different than creator). Recorded year, publisher, date of publication, medium. URL.

 

Example

Standard Sound Effect (161B). CATS. Recording date unknown, recorded by George Blood, L.P., publication date unknown, produced by Standard Radio, digitized from stylus on 78rpm record. https://archive.org/details/78_cats_gbia3003132b.    

 

Format

Author. Year. "Title." Publisher if applicable/listed. Date of upload if noted. Date accessed. URL.

 

Example

Argall, Matthew Paul. 2012. "The Talkative Cat." Archive.org. Uploaded January 30, 2012. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://archive.org/details/TheTalkativeCat.