How do you reference information from a database like MIMS or AusDI?
The Answer:
With databases like these, you have the option of referencing a particular entry in the database or referencing the database as a whole.
If you referenced your entry, it would follow the same pattern as AusDI in the examples on the guide, and it would look like this:
- Pevaryl for athlete’s foot [product information]. In: MIMS Online. St Leonards, Australia: MIMS Australia. https://www-mimsonline-com-au.elibrary.jcu.edu.au. Updated August 11, 2011. Accessed May 1, 2014.
Some notes:
- When citing an entry, like this, the pattern bares more in common with a book chapter than a web site, but it still needs the dates that you would use for a web site.
- If there was a clear date of publication given for the database (not just a copyright year), you would include the year (or year range) after the publisher, just like you would in a book:
e.g. St Leonards, Australia: MIMS Australia; 2006-2014. - You need to ask your lectures if they wants you to include the full link back to the record. Generally speaking, you don’t use a URL that includes a search-string if you can avoid it (they tend to be long, ugly and unstable), which is why I abbreviated the URL to just the address for this database.
- And you can skip the [product information] part if you want - especially if you took information from several subpages concerning the same entry.
If you referenced the database as a whole, it would look like this:
- MIMS Online. St Leonards, Australia: MIMS Australia; 2014. https://www-mimsonline-com-au.elibrary.jcu.edu.au. Accessed May 1, 2014.
Some notes:
- The standard reference pattern for a complete database looks a bit like a cross between a book pattern and a web site. Just like a web site, the title of the database is not italicised in this case. Just like a book, there is a place of publication and a publisher
- If you can't find a place of publication and publisher, click on the "about" page for the database and find the company responsible and their head offices. Use the city for their offices as your place of publication, and the company as your publisher.
- Since there is less likely to be a clear "last updated" date for the database as a whole, rather than an individual entry, the copyright date is probably going to be your "year of publication". Put it exactly where you would put the year for a book.
But you’re probably better off citing the entry, as it’s more precise and helps the person who may be trying to find your information.
