Citation Management Software

Abstract

Reference, instruction, and technology come together in the arena of research support. No matter the level of the researcher (from the student writing his or her first high school research paper to the Nobel prize-winning scientist) source citation is fundamental to good research. Author Merinda Hensley reflects on the role of the librarian in choosing, promoting, and teaching citation management software. She examines four of the most popular citation managers from the perspective of both the patron and the librarian. More than just reviewing features, Hensley provides practices for the instruction and support of these important research tools.--Editor When I was an undergraduate student, I used a portable word processor to type all my research papers. (Does this date me too much?) In other words, formatting and typing a paper was a lot of work and had to be properly thought out ahead of time. I would write each reference on an index card, consult my dog-eared copy of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 3rd edition, and carefully write out each element of the citation, double-checking my work along the way. An errant finger could mean using White-Out on the mistake, or worse, retyping the entire page. Today's students have it easy. They can import references into their own personal database, choose any citation style, and format a bibliography in seconds. When will we admit to ourselves that twenty-first-century students do not identify with the importance of citation style? It is an afterthought, a requirement added on to an assignment from which a professor can reliably deduct points. It is an aggravation to be dealt with right up until the paper submission date. When I was in college, we chose a citation style, usually according to our discipline, and got to know it intimately. This is simply no longer the case. As librarians, how have we adjusted to the emergence of the citation manager? With new products being released every semester and old ones being updated, should we stand behind a single product? Is it our responsibility to buy access for our students and faculty? The answer is, it depends. As librarians, we fuss over citation style details more than anyone else in the academy. As reference librarians, we endlessly answer questions about nuances of citation style management. As teaching librarians, we attest the value of academic integrity by illustrating the differences between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. As technology experts, we demonstrate and explain functions of the tool. And as discerning collection managers, we purchase citation management tools. But with so many choices available, how can we use our expert knowledge to review and recommend the best citation manager of the day? And will that change tomorrow? I faced this dilemma when user questions spanning the vast number of citation managers started to mount. How could I possibly understand the ins and outs of all the citation managers on the market? How could I develop instructional materials and teach workshops on several citation managers? Choices have to be made. We know this much to be true--students are integrating technology into the larger fabric of their lives. Reference management increasingly resembles personal digital libraries, (1) with students refining their workflow by living in the cloud. Ultimately, today's researcher is interconnected and searching for value beyond the citation. As so much these days is in perpetual beta, let's examine a few of the citation managers on the market by asking ourselves two questions: 1. Is there a value-added citation manager worth investing money and time in? 2. What are the reference and instructional impacts of these choices? A brief scan of academic library websites confirmed that RefWorks, EndNote, and Zotero are currently the most popular citation managers promoted and supported. There are many comparison charts available on the web, so instead let's approach our review from the perspectives of both the user and the librarian. …