The documentation style you use depends on the disciplinary area of the subject.
Check with your professor if you are unsure of which one to use.
Citation managers, or bibliographic management software, can save you hours by keeping track of your sources and formatting your bibliographies.
Use software like Zotero to manage your sources - download citations from library databases; export the bibliography into your paper. Georgia State University has a great comparison of different citation manager programs available here.
Zotero (pronounced "zoh-TAIR-oh") is a free Firefox plugin that collects, manages, and cites research sources. It's easy to use, lives in your web browser where you do your work, and you can save citations from IUCAT and most library databases, as well as sites like Amazon and the New York Times online. It also allows you to attach PDFs, notes, and images to your citations, organize them into collections for different projects, and create bibliographies using Word or OpenOffice. It is easier to use than EndNote and surprisingly powerful.
Since it's a Firefox plugin, it automatically updates itself periodically to work with new online sources and new bibliographic styles.
Zotero Quick Start Guide
See also this great guide published by the Zotero developers themselves. Also available as a PDF.
Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research.
EasyBib helps you format your sources using MLA style (formatting in other styles is not included in the free version).
Citation & Documentation LibGuide by Kate Moore is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.
Based on Jason Puckett and Amy Harris' work at research.library.gsu.edu
.