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Library Research and Citation Tools

Notes for graduate student meeting introducing library research and citation tools.

Library Reminders

Get help:

Resources:

Research Tools

Important research concepts for scholarly literature:

General search strategies:

  • Booleans (AND, OR, NOT - learn how to expand, narrow, and refine your search terms)
  • Keywords and concept mapping (from your known topics explore broader, narrower, related, synonyms / thesaurus. concept mapping intro video)
  • Citation chaining (look at what an important paper in your area cites and who cites it)

Library Catalog (Primo)

Primo Discovery Service

  • Content: everything that the library has access to (books, journals, gov docs, articles, physical and digital)
  • Less focused and powerful than databases
  • Use notes:
    • sign in (access resources off campus)
    • account (check loan status, saved items/searches/history, requests)
    • scopes (UI Library, Summit, E-Resources)
    • filters (date, resource type, etc)
    • “personalize” (weights search results in your discipline)
    • item features (citation, permalink, email, summit libraries, virtual browse)

Library “Databases”

Database A-Z List (all databases that the Library subscribes to)

  • Content: each database has a specialized set of materials with enhanced metadata to aid in discovery.
  • Use notes:
    • databases may not include full text access
    • each may have different limitations and restrictions
    • use proxy to access from off campus

Important ENGR databases:

External Indexes

  • Web of Science
    • Content: wide coverage of science scholarly/peer-reviewed articles from the most important journals and conference proceedings. Index only (metadata, not full text), contains items that the Library might not have access to.
    • Excellent citation tracking, enables in depth citation chaining
    • Filter by highly cited, “hot in the field”, etc., to explore subject area
    • Export data, citation lists
    • WoS Search intro video, quick ref
  • Google Scholar
    • Content: good content coverage of academic literature, but not all peer-reviewed and sources are not always clearly labeled. Index only (metadata, not full text), contains items that the Library might not have access to.
    • Familiar / easy to search
    • Good citation tracking
    • Connect to UI Library:
      • If you connect U of I Library to your Scholar account, search results will show a link “Univ of Idaho - Get it” to access full text items in our subscriptions.
      • How to connect to UI Library
  • Article Access and Discovery Tools
    • Variety of plugins and tools to help find access to articles that the library doesn’t have access to, or to discover more research.

Citation Management

Citation management software are tools to store citations and automatically generate bibliographies. They can help you keep track of your research, discover new items, collaborate on writing, and share resource lists for teaching/research. Start using one now, it will make your future life so much easier, saving you time and effort!

Common features:

  • Store references, generate any style citation (you don’t need to learn the citation styles, or convert between them!)
  • Organize your research (keep all your references and notes in one place)
  • Create groups for sharing and collaborating on research (easiest if your collaborators use the same platform…)
  • Auto extract citations from web pages and PDFs
  • Store / manage article PDFs
  • Integrate with word processors (MS Word, Libre Office, Google Docs)
  • Standalone app + web version + browser plugins

Summary of the biggest platforms:

  Zotero EndNote Mendeley
Cost Free, open source, $ storage upgrades $$$ Freemium, $ storage upgrades
Developer Center for History and New Media/George Mason University Clarivate Analytics Elsevier
Pros ease of use, availability integration with Web of Science integration with Elsevier

Zotero

Zotero is free, open source, cross platform, and probably the easiest citation manager to get started with. The web interface makes it easy to collaborate on and share reference lists. It has many options to import / export other citation management lists and formats. Developed by an academic non-profit, Zotero is independent and does not sell your data.

Get started

  • Zotero web account - first set up an account to use web version. This is important for syncing your local data, working on multiple computers, and collaborating with others.
  • Zotero Desktop - optionally download and install the “personal research assistant” / “stand alone” app. The installation will likely prompt you to install plugins for LibreOffice / MS Word, the “Zotero Connector”, and set up an online account.
    • If you already set up your online account, add it in Preferences > Sync. Once set up, the green refresh arrow appears in upper right of the app window.
  • “Zotero Connector” browser plugin (Addon/Extension) - install the plugin for your web browser. This will allow you to save references / pdfs directly from web pages.
    • Access Connector preferences by right clicking the icon. Check for defaults about saving PDFs and website snapshots. You may also need to “Authorize” to save items directly to the web version if your desktop app isn not open.
    • Will automatically detect Proxy links (i.e. logging in via U of I Library) and offer to save that setting to facilitate access.
    • Provides Google Doc integration.

Create citation records

  • Create a new record - use one of the methods to add references to your library:
    • “Magic wand button” - paste in a URL, DOI, ISBN. Zotero will auto extract the information to create a new record. It will automatically attempt to download related PDF or create a website snapshot.
    • “Plus button” - manually fill in the information.
    • Click the browser plugin in your address bar - information will be auto extracted to create new record.
  • Edit & Annotate record - check the record “tabs” for options. Use these fields to organize and enrich your collections:
    • “Info” - manually edit the citation details if necessary.
    • “Notes” - your annotations about the record. You can add multiple writing in rich text. Write summaries, key points you want to use, facts, sentences to quote?
    • “Tags” - add tags to group your articles around topics (see the tag visualization in lower left).
    • “Attachments” - add files or links, or view current. “Snapshots” are locally saved version of a web page.
  • Create folders to keep organized.
  • Create group libraries to collaborate - setting up groups is done in the web account only (but will sync to desktop).
    • share PDFs, which can be a huge time saver and simplify access.
    • can be public or private. Great way to publicly share reading lists.

Generate bibliography

  • “Create citation/bibliography” - select some references, click the button / right click, and copy the bibliography into your document.
  • Word Processor Plugins - Integrate directly with LibreOffice, Word, or Google Docs. Use the tool to insert citations from your manager directly into the paper. This will add the correct inline/footnote citation and populate the bibliography/works cited section. (note: these are automatically installed by the desktop app)
  • RTF scan - alternative to using the word processor plugins when writing in .RTF format. Add name+date to text, Zotero scans it and matches to your records to auto generate citation and bibliography.
  • “Export” options include BibTeX if integrating with LaTeX writing workflows.
  • “Generate report” option on desktop outputs publication info plus your notes, a nice way to create an annotated bibliography to share.

Usage tips

  • ZoteroBib - handy tool to create a bibliography, after you skipped using a citation manager.
  • Zotero Storage - 300 MB for free, 2GB for $20/yr, 6GB for $60/yr, Unlimited for $120/yr. Groups storage counts against the owner’s account, so be strategic if you plan on using it extensively (i.e. have lab leader buy it so you can share all PDFs!).
  • Create CV

Resources: