Remember WHY you’re providing an in-text reference to one of your sources and you’ll have a rule of thumb for creating them correctly: Use common sense! And always ASK YOUR PROFESSOR when in doubt.

For information on WHEN to use in-text references, check out Purdue University's OWL handout. 

Every reference source in your bibliography must have been USED, i.e., READ by you and cited in your paper, whether or not you use a direct quote.

A parenthetical reference leads the reader of the text to a reference source used by the writer. The MLA Handbook says: "References in the text must clearly point to specific sources in the list of works cited." Since sources are arranged alphabetically at the end of your paper, the in-text reference has to give your reader an alphabetical clue: the first (significant) word of the reference.

MLA Style of Parenthetical Documentation

Your bibliography at the end of your paper is called "Works Cited"

For more information consult your course instructor, the MLA Handbook (available at the Library's Reference Desk) 

or the MLA Web site.