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EnglishWhich Purdue OWL Resources Are Meant for Your Role?
Updated
The Purdue OWL organizes a portion of its site by audience, not just by topic. If you are a grades 7–12 instructor or student, an ESL learner, a non-Purdue or Purdue instructor or student, a professional writer, or a parent, the "Suggested Resources" section lists a page for you. Everyone else can start with the citation and writing guides under "Popular Resources."
Audience-specific pages
The site's Suggested Resources list maps directly to these groups:
| Your role | Suggested resource |
|---|---|
| Grades 7–12 instructors and students | Grades 7-12 Instructors and Students |
| English as a Second Language learners | English as a Second Language |
| Instructors and students outside Purdue | Non-Purdue Instructors and Students |
| Purdue instructors and students | Purdue Instructors and Students |
| Professional writers | Professional Writers |
| Parents | Parents |
These entries appear as links on the OWL homepage under "Suggested Resources." Selecting the one that matches your situation takes you to guidance filtered for that audience rather than the general writing advice aimed at everyone.
If you are at Purdue
Purdue students and faculty have access to services beyond the online reference materials. According to the OWL homepage, you can schedule an in-person, online, or e-tutoring session with a tutor, or attend a writing workshop. The homepage separates this into "Student Info" and "Faculty Info," with a "Make an Appointment" link. If you are on campus, start there rather than with the general guides.
If you are not at Purdue
The "Non-Purdue Instructors and Students" page is the entry point for you. The OWL describes itself as serving students, teachers, professionals, and organizations worldwide through online reference materials and services, so the citation and writing guides remain available regardless of affiliation. Tutoring and workshops, by contrast, are described as serving the on-campus Purdue community.
If you mainly need citation or writing help
Audience pages are for tailoring; the core reference material sits under "Popular Resources" and applies to most visitors:
- APA Formatting and Style Guide
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Writing the Basic Business Letter
- Developing a Résumé
- Purdue OWL Vidcasts
The homepage also lists an APA Guide, MLA Guide, Avoiding Plagiarism, and Resume Guide as online services for creating citations, cover letters, major-specific writing help, and general writing advice.
How to choose
- Identify which audience label fits you: grades 7–12, ESL, non-Purdue, Purdue, professional writer, or parent.
- Open that page from "Suggested Resources" on the homepage.
- If your task is a specific citation style or document type, go directly to the matching guide under "Popular Resources" instead.
- If you are at Purdue and want feedback rather than reference material, use the appointment or workshop links.
A parent helping a middle-schooler, for example, would use the Parents page and the Grades 7-12 page together; a professional updating a résumé would use the Professional Writers page and the Résumé Guide.