Tools to Manage References for Research and Writing
A critical part of the student research process is keeping track of references (citations)—journal papers, books, web pages, facts, pictures, quotes, etc—that support your research so that you can properly cite them in your work using a required publication style. In an increasing online research environment reference management programs can assist by:
- Collecting references from online sources, e.g., the HSU Library Catalog, research databases, web pages, and other sources; or by manual input.
- Storing and managing these references in searchable folders.
- Linking to the full text of references, if available, and allowing addition of personal notes.
- Generating bibliographies or inserting references into papers composed in Microsoft Word or other word processors and automatically formatting them in a required publication style, e.g., MLA, APA , or CSE.
Two recommended programs are:
- EndNote Web -- This web-based program is available free to all HSU students, faculty and staff as part of the HSU Library’s subscription to Thomson/Reuters databases. The program is available wherever there is Internet access. Continuing access to this program is available for up to two years after leaving HSU. See Using EndNote Web at HSU for details on how to use the program.
- Zotero -- This is a free open-source add-on for Firefox that lives in the browser after being downloaded and installed. To increase portability of collected and stored references Zotero can be synchronized with their online site so that references can be accessed from any location. A second portability option is to use Portable Firefox which can be stored on a USB drive or HSU network drive. See Zotero from Georgia State University for details on how to use the program.
References created in EndNote Web can be ported to Zotero and vice versa. Reference Management Software contains a more extensive overview of other similiar programs and a listing of available commercial and shareware programs. The HSU Library supports Connection Files for Endnote, a widely used commercial desktop program that is available at the HSU Bookstore.
There are a number of other less refined applications that will format individual references into a major bibliographic style that then can be copied into a word processor. For a list of these see Citation Generators. Some HSU Library databases also have built-in utilities that will format one or more references into a major bibiographic style that can also be copied.