A Canadian Writer's Reference. 2nd ed.

Kathleen James-Cavan is an assistant professor of English at the
University of Saskatchewan.

This is the second edition of a book first published in 1990. Like the
first edition, it is conveniently divided into tabbed sections, and the
ring-type binding allows the book to lie flat. Both editions are adapted
from the third edition of A Writer’s Reference, published by Bedford
Books of St. Martin’s Press.

The second edition has three new sections (“ESL Trouble Spots,”
“Document Design,” and “Research”) and divides documentation
into “MLA Documentation” and “Alternative Styles of
Documentation” (comprising only APA), and the footnote and endnote
systems. By omitting CBE and Chicago styles, the book limits its
audience to students in the humanities and social sciences.

Of the new sections, “ESL Trouble Spots” is the most useful. It is
supplemented by “ESL Notes” that either discuss a point more fully
or function as cross-references. The “Document Design” and
“Research” sections are too brief and general. Although the former
section mentions CD-ROMs and on-line material (but not URLs or e-mail),
the section on research merely leads readers through rudimentary
note-taking from print-based sources.

The most serious flaw in this handbook is the confusing advice on
documentation. A student looking for information on the MLA style will
find “MLA Guidelines” under “Document Design” but “MLA
Documentation” in a separate section. Although the introduction to
“Document Design” states that the “guidelines in this section
apply to academic manuscripts both with and without documentation,”
the section contains only an undocumented piece of personal writing.
This separation of manuscript guidelines from documentation information
will frustrate student users.

Caveats aside, A Canadian Writer’s Reference is an excellent support
for the student writer who is already familiar with the writing process.