Add "Press Release" to droplist of publication/media type

coquettecutie
With MLA export to bibliography:
"College Students Fall Short in Demonstrating the ICT Literacy Skills Necessary for Success in College and the Workplace." ETS.org. Educational Testing Service. 14 November 2006. <http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/...>;

Sorry if this has already been suggested. I did a quick search and didn't see anything.

Thanks!

A.
  • mako
    Yes please. I'm wishing I had this now as well.
  • bdarcus
    Just use "document". IMHO there's nothing particularly special about a press release that warrants its own type. I say this as someone who cites them.
  • scribbler
    I also vote for adding a press release template or document type, maybe indicated by PR under "type."
  • sean
    How does a press release differ from a "document" in terms of citation? It's not clear that it merits its own type.
  • bdarcus
    It doesn't. But the Document UI could use a "type" field so that users can enter "press release."
  • erazlogo
    edited December 13, 2007
    Use "Manuscript" which does have type field. It's also formatted in the new Chicago CSL to cite any unpublished document properly. Why do you need "Document" if you have "Manuscript"?
  • bdarcus
    Why do you need "Document" if you have "Manuscript"?
    I'd turn that around. Am still not convinced there's any utility in having a manuscript type, particularly if there's a decent implementation of the more relational model. A manuscript is nothing more than an unpublished document, often held in some archival collection.

    OTOH, a press release isn't a manuscript; it's a published document.
  • erazlogo
    edited December 13, 2007
    Actually, press releases are treated as unpublished documents for citation purposes. According to Chicago 15th ed. 17.244:
    A news release, though published in a sense, is treated like an unpublished document. ...

    N: 6. National Transportation Safety Board, “Airline fatalities for 1994 climbed to five-year high,” news release, January 19, 1995.
    http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/ch17/ch17_sec244.html

    For someone who needs to cite press releases or other odd unpublished documents today, "document" is just too nebulous to provide any kind of formatted citation, whereas "manuscript" works fine as it is now.
  • bdarcus
    I "cite press releases and other odd unpublished documents today" as well, so to the extend we have different opinions on this, it can't be reduced to that.

    In my view a press release is an informally published document; not a manuscript. If the White House posts a press release (as they always do) online, it's a published document.

    I don't care about the letter of what Chicago or any other style says about formatting. First, I publish in a lot of different journals, some based on Chicago, some on APA, some on still other styles.

    But more importantly, I care about getting the data right, and as I've repeatedly said, in my experience that's more important to correct formatting than "type." For example, in the excerpt you quote above, what logical principle allows the CMS to say "is treated like an unpublished source"? What are the characteristics of an "unpublished source"? That we call it that? Or is it something really banal like a lack of a publisher? And what formatting rules trigger in that situation? Perhaps the "news release" note gets added to better describe the resource?
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