Nontraditional Sources: Textual Course Materials

Last updated 5/6/2020

 

Visual: Screen opens to a background image with a person typing on a laptop and a notebook and pencil, along with the Walden University Writing Center logo. The title Walden University Writing Center and tagline “Your writing, grammar, and APA experts” appears on the screen. The screen changes to show the series title “Nontraditional Sources” and the video title “Textual Course Materials.”

Audio: Guitar music

 

Visual: Slide changes to one titled “Textual Course Materials.” Sub-heading reads: (Handouts, Lecture Notes). The body text reads as follows:

Walden University. (n.d.). Five basic criteria for evaluating sources [Handout]. Walden University Blackboard. https://class.waldenu.edu

Audio: You may find yourself in the situation where you’d like to cite materials you’ve found under the Resources section in your Blackboard classroom. When we refer to course materials, we’re talking specifically about textual materials like handouts or lecture notes, so things that you can download as a PDF or a Word document.  

To cite a source like this, you’ll include the author’s name, if it’s listed; if an individual author is not listed, you’ll include the publisher, which for Walden courses is Walden University, as shown here. If there is a date included in the materials, include that date; however, often for Walden course materials, there isn’t a specific date listed, so you’ll include “n.d”, which stands for “no date.” Next you’ll include the material’s title, in sentence case and italicized, followed by a description in brackets. APA doesn’t have set descriptions, so use something that’s short but specific, like “handout” or “lecture notes.” Finally, in the publication element of the entry, you’ll include reference to the platform you accessed the course materials, Walden University Blackboard, and the Walden classroom login page URL. Note that this URL isn’t the direct URL to your classroom or the materials, but the general placeholder URL.

 

Visual: Text box appears at bottom of screen and reads as follows: (Walden University, n.d.) or (Walden University, n.d., p. 4)

Audio: To cite your course materials in the body of your paper, you’ll pull whatever you have in the author and date elements of the reference entry. Of course, if you’re quoting from the materials, you’ll list the page or paragraph number where you’ve found the quoted material. And that’s it! This is how you cite textual course materials.

 

Visual: The screen changes to an ending slide a background image with a person typing on a laptop and a notebook and pencil, along with the Walden University Writing Center logo. The email address writingsupport@mail.waldenu.edu appears on the screen.