All libraries should assist young researchers with intellectual property issues as an integrated part of the information search process, and use digital tools to encourage the practice of ethical information skills (Proske, 2010).
Citation
of electronic sources has become an increasingly complicated
business.
Although
they are frequently embedded for download by readers of e-articles,
embedded citations are often incorrect; plus the style used might be
different to the one required (Park, Mardis & Ury, 2011).
Online
resources make inadvertent plagiarism very easy. Besides, different
cultures have different attitudes to plagiarism – in some cases it
is even a “sincere expression of respect” (Park et al, 2011).
Secondary
students find it all highly frustrating and frequently leave citation
to the end of the writing process.
There
are many citation-making tools available on the web. During a
recent Web 2.0 online learning programme, I examined a
number of these and then asked my secondary students to trial some of those
that are free.
Most
of the citation-makers are fairly alike and proved easy to use; but there were
some problems. Many students find it difficult to identify the type
of source they are using (Park et al, 2011) – so Citation-Machine's
elementary guide was better than nothing while NoodleTool's 80+
possible source-types was overwhelming.
However,
the severely limited number of source-types, offered by some of the
citation-makers, was also a cause of frustration!
The
other problem was that not all the citation-makers offered the
required style. The students found Neil's Toolbox the most fun and
instructional – and indeed said they would use some of the other
things it offers (they particularly liked 'Help for the Lazy
Researcher') but it doesn't offer APA, as is required by our school.
BibMe
came out as the most popular all-rounder.
Zotero,
which can be downloaded for most browsers, although it was designed
for Mozilla Firefox, is a more complex tool. References can be
stored in folders (or more than one folder), folders can be shared
- an excellent aide to collaborative group-work; and, although
details can be entered manually, Zotero recognises embedded metadata
and can create the reference automatically.
Zotero
offers plug-ins for Windows, Linux and Mac which proved useful for
teaching in-text citation by default. The plug-in allows for the
automatic creation of a reference list based on in-text references;
without those, however, a reference list has to be created by
laborious copy-paste. Those Year 9 students who trialled Zotero are
now (finally!) beginning to use in-text citations. (This is not
dissimilar to the 'Reference' tab in Microsoft Office Word – but as Zotero is online the folders can be accessed from any computer anywhere.)
There
are no adverts – and Zotero is free.
As
today's schoolchildren expect to see ICTs integrated into all their
learning activities, public, as well as school libraries could use
their websites not only as access portals but also as a one-stop
tool-box for information skills; one of those tools could be a
citation-maker (Proske, 2010). It is most important however, that
students using these programs are reminded to check their final
reference lists carefully – many small errors were detected and
ultimately the responsibility belongs to the writer.
Topic: Digital materials/resources and emerging technologies; Activities: Review e-resource delivering service & Learn how to use a new tool...
References:
Park, S., Mardis, L. & Ury, C.J. (2011). I've lost my identity –
oh, there it is … in a style manual: Teaching citation styles and
academic honesty Reference Services Review, 39
(1), pp.42-57 DOI: 10.1108/00907321111108105
Proske,
J. (2010). The virtual school libr@ry: a
necessity for today's school library program. Literacies,
learning & libraries, 3(1),
5-20. Retrieved from
http://albertaschoollibraries.pbworks.com/f/LiteraciesLearningLibraries+Vol3No1+pdf.pdf#page=7
These are the tools we compared:
Zotero: Georgia State University's Library has published Research
Guides on Zotero for those wanting to use it to its full extent:
http://research.library.gsu.edu/zotero
Bibliography
Makers (2014).
http://bibliographymakers.com/
BibMe
http://www.bibme.org/
Citation
Machine: David Warlick and the Landmark Project (2010) Son of
Citation Machine
Citation
Producer (2012). http://www.neilstoolbox.com/index.htm
EasyBib
http://www.easybib.com/
Neil's
Toolbox (2014). http://www.neilstoolbox.com/index.htm
NoodleTools:
Noodle Tools Inc http://www.noodletools.com/index.php
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