National History Day Philly Educator Newsletter, Volume 3, December 21, 2009

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or would like more information.

Best,
Ang Reidell, Deputy Regional Coordinator, NHD Philly

1. Survey Monkey for NHD Philly:
   We need a preliminary estimate from teachers of the number of students and projects coming to the competition in March. This will help us with space planning, as well as ordering enough T-shirts. Please take the following survey as soon as possible, and remember, we are just looking for estimates at this point: surveymonkey.com/s/5H9RTHJ

2. Use New National Links:
   Adrienne Pritchard in the national office recently sent out this reminder about the nhd.org website:

   As you know, we launched our brand new NHD website in September. However, it has come to our attention that many people may still be using old links that corresponded to our old website. We ask you to PLEASE avoid doing this. If the old links somehow redirect to our old website, then people are getting old and incorrect information, which certainly doesn't help anyone. If you are unsure of where certain information is on the new website, or want the new link for a certain page, feel free to email or call us.

3. State Guidelines for Competition — Possible Changes:
   Jeff Hawks, the new PA State Coordinator, recently sent out this announcement to regional coordinators about limiting the number of projects advancing to the state level. Part of his e-mail is copied below. Since sending this, Jeff sent out an update saying he was still looking for ways to accommodate more students, but this is the information we are operating under so far:

   Unfortunately, due to ongoing construction at Millersville University, the limitations on finances imposed by current economic conditions, and the need to lighten the load on our wonderful volunteers, we have made the decisions to limit the number of slots for projects advancing from Regionals to the State contest to two per category.

4. Scholarship Fundraising Update: As you may know, the funds that provide scholarships to the state contest must be raised on an ongoing basis. The current economy has made this more of a challenge than usual. We are continuing to raise funds for this year and hope for the best, but we wanted to make you aware of the fact that this could affect the number of scholarships NHD Philly is able to offer this year.

5. Accepted Citation Style Update, from the National Office:

   The two accepted styles for citations and bibliographies in NHD projects are:

   1. Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
   2. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

   Whichever style students choose to use, it is important that they remain consistent with that style throughout their NHD project and bibliography. It is also important that they remain consistent to whichever edition of that style they are using. While the NHD Rule Book indicates the 5th edition of the MLA guide, students are allowed to use the 5th edition and any edition coming after it (6th and 7th). However, they must be consistent and only use one edition.

   Changes in MLA's New 7th edition:

   Some of the changes in the new 7th edition of the MLA handbook, published in 2009, are quite different from previous editions; which could cause confusion for students, teachers and judges. A few examples of these changes include:

   • URLs are no longer required for citations of web sources
   • For each citation, it is required to indicate what type of source it is by placing the medium of publication at the end of the citation; "Print," "Web," "Film," "Personal Interview," etc.

   There is a good website that highlights the main points of the new MLA 7th edition: owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01.

   It is also important to emphasize that students can still use the Turabian style (which is preferred by historians). They do not have to use the new MLA guide.