Strong research and writing skills are essential for museum professionals, whether you’re publishing an article, preparing grant proposals, or mentoring new colleagues.
That’s why I created a new eight-minute video, Chicago Style Basics, to introduce the fundamentals of citation and documentation using the Chicago Manual of Style — just updated with its 18th edition ($75!).

The video walks through what a citation is, why citations matter, and the basic parts of a properly formatted citation. It also provides real examples of how to cite a book with one author, a chapter within a larger book, and a journal article — essential formats for anyone writing in our field. The video closes with a quick summary and a few resource suggestions for those who want to dig deeper.

At the Museum Studies Program at George Washington University, we require our graduate students to demonstrate professional-level research and writing, and this video was created to support those expectations. But it’s also a useful refresher for anyone preparing manuscripts for publication, developing course materials, or helping new professionals get their footing.

You can watch Chicago Style Basics at https://youtu.be/X9c1DQEcwhw.

I hope you’ll find it a handy reference — and please feel free to pass it along to anyone who might appreciate a refresher.