Q. My library shelves are full. I need to make some difficult decisions to make space for new arrivals. Is there any reason
to keep my CMOS 14th and 15th editions?
A. What a question. If you had more children, would you give away your firstborn? Find a board and build another shelf.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. For a dissertation using Chicago style (notes and bibliography version), do you recommend that websites be listed in a discrete section of the bibliography, apart from publications?
A. Although CMOS stops short of recommending it, there are times when it might be helpful. Please see paragraph 14.63 for guidance on deciding whether to divide a bibliography into sections.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am editing an anthology in which the authors have written essays responding to a document. This document has been previously
published as a brochure and now will be published as part of the anthology. How should they cite quotations from the document?
A. Something like “p. xii, above” or “appendix A, p. 113”
should do it. (The page numbers will have to be entered after typesetting.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I have scanned a textbook with the information I need for a paper, but I forgot to scan the page numbers. I looked up the
book online and found the table of contents, so I can document the page numbers for the entire chapters, but I only scanned
selective pages. How can I cite in the footnotes without a page number?
A. There’s no way to do this right without page numbers; your citations will lack important information.
If your goal is important to you (getting an A? getting published?), you’re going to have to locate
the original source again.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I edit and proofread exhibition catalogs that contain essays by different authors. Each author submits his/her essay, using
his/her preferred style of notes. Many times the styles don’t match from author to author—yet
all essays are published in the same catalog. Must the styles match throughout the catalog?
A. If your catalog essays share a single notes or bibliography section, you must standardize. If each essay has its own notes
and bibliography, however, the publisher or assigning editor can tell you whether or not to accept inconsistencies. If someone
thinks it’s worth the time and money for you to standardize the citations, it’s
a worthy goal. Otherwise, you should simply make sure that the individual contributions are consistent within themselves.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How does Chicago treat Twitter handles? Do you lowercase (or capitalize) them consistently, or do you follow the user’s preference? For example, how would you style the following handles in a story: @roseannecash, @ElizabethHurley, @leannrimes.
A. It’s probably best to cap them the way they appear on Twitter, since that’s the way the owners styled them.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How should I index the name Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo?
A. In the absence of other information or advice (such as from the author), index unfamiliar unhyphenated names in the usual way, under the last name listed—in this case, Mbasogo. CMOS 16.71–74 and 16.75–87 cover rules for indexing special types of personal names.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. The way sports writers and fans write the hortatory phrase “Go Giants!” (my home
team, and no reflection on them) drives me nuts. Shouldn’t it be “Go, Giants”?
It’s direct address, after all, and there is a vast difference between the two commands “Kill
Bill!” and “Kill, Bill!” The athletic directors whose columns
I’ve edited just scoff that it’s accepted “sports English”
to write “Go Bears/Giants/Frogs!” but I just “go bananas.”
A. Ah, sports English. Yes, that’s what it is, and there’s probably no fighting
it, although as an editor you are justified in inserting the comma.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How do I cite CD liner notes in a bibliography?
Q. I am having a disagreement with an author regarding her quoting of newspaper articles in her paper. I think that all the
details of the article quoted should be provided, including the title. She thinks it’s enough to just
give the name of the publication and date. Which of us is right?
A. Although Chicago-style citations of newspaper articles include the titles, such titles are not always stable—they
can change from one edition to the next and can be different in print and online—so there might be reason
to omit them. Citations that back up quotations, however, should always serve to (1) verify the writer’s
assertions and (2) help the reader find the source of the quotation. If omitting the title gets in the way of either purpose,
it’s not a good idea.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]