AAQ - Citing a Telephone Book (APA Style, 5th ed.)

UPDATE (17 February 2012): An update of this entry has been post. Click here for the revised 6th edition version. 

ORIGINAL ENTRY:

This is the latest AAQ that I answered. Unfortunately it is one of those questions that has no absolute answer - as you might read.

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Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.

You are inquiring about how to cite a local telephone book.

Given the nature of your program, I am assuming that you will be using the American Psychological Association (APA) system of citation. Unfortunately, the 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Manual) does not specify a means of citing a phone book.

To this end, we can suggest that you use the following information:

AUTHOR: -leave blank-
– Since the author is not explicitly given, use the title instead. The directory (as a whole) is written by many individuals, companies, and organizations – as demonstrated by some of the subsections and advertisements. We do not believe that the Yellow Pages Group can be attributed as the author – though editorial credit could arguably be given to that group.

TITLE: Yellow pages: 2007/2008 Medicine Hat and area [Telephone directory].
– Since this “book” is not a book that has been published in the traditional sense (i.e., providing copyright date, proper title and publisher’s pages), provide the title of the publication (as disjointed as it seems) and display the “medium” in brackets. This description of the medium is not officially noted in the APA Manual, but it should clear up any confusion that might plague your audience – review section 4.12 (p. 228) of the APA Manual for details. The title is italicized, but the descriptor is not.

PUBLICATION DATE: n.d.
– Though we can reasonably assume that it was released in 2007, no explicit copyright date is given, so use “n.d.” for “no date”.

PLACE OF PUBLICATION: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
– The Yellow Pages Group has many offices across Canada, but the Burnaby address is given near the front of the book.

PUBLISHER: Yellow Pages Group.
– This much seems (somewhat) clear.

So your basic reference might be ordered as:

Yellow pages: 2007/2008 Medicine Hat and area [Telephone directory]. (n.d.). Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada: Yellow Pages Group.
– Be mindful of properly employing the hanging indent, double-spacing, and italicization of title.

NOTE: If you use a particular subsection of the book or advisements, etc., then everything we have written thus far, might be thrown out the window. We suggest that you visit the Information Desk of the Vera Bracken Library for further assistance.

Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).

AAQ#: 37241