It is vital to keep track of the sources you find, but one of the things many students fail to do well. There are several tools available to keep track of the sources you read, your notes about those sources, and easily create a bibliography from your selected sources. Some things to consider when choosing what works for you are your comfort with downloading and installing things, whether you are using a personal device for all your work, what you will be creating in the end, and your note-taking needs.
One of the easiest, low-key ways is a simple research log. Included here is a blank table you can copy and paste into a document, as well as an example of one filled out.
| What it says | How it relates | What I think |
|---|---|---|
| Source/Citation: | ||
| Date: | Permalink: | |
| How I found it: | ||
| What it says | How it relates | What I think |
|---|---|---|
| "Despite fearing for their reputations because of their sexually provocative cheerleading routines, every cheerleader I interviewed was... proud of the squad’s technique, and committed to cheering." | Cheerleaders are athletes who want to showcase skill and technique in a non-seductive way. | Cheer coaches should make conscious decisions about routines that highlight skill and athleticism and not include dance that reduces the athlete to a sexual object. |
| Source/Citation: Johnson, Chelsea Mary Elise. “‘Just Because I Dance Like a Ho I’m Not a Ho’: Cheerleading at the Intersection of Race, Class, and Gender.” Sociology of Sport Journal, vol. 32, no. 4, Dec. 2015, pp. 377–94. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2014-0091. | ||
| Date: 8/9/22 | Permalink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=sih&AN=113169505&site=ehost-live&custid=s8993175 | |
| How I found it: I went to SocIndex and typed in cheerlead* | ||
XULA's Library Search has a built-in feature for saving favorite searches and sources from the library's collections. You can sign in to your Library Search account using XULA's Single Sign On (SSO) and use the "My Favorites" thumbtack icon to create a list of saved resources or save a search.
If you are unable to download the software to your personal device, you still have options available to you. You can add an item on the web version using a unique identifier such as the URL, DOI, or ISBN (in both Zotero and Mendeley) or you can import the .ris file (Mendeley only).
Browser extensions provide additional functionality to your web browser. The extensions for Zotero & Mendeley are not standalone products. However, the extensions do make it really easy to pull citation information from a page on the web. As always, you will need to review the information being imported for accuracy.
With most anything that requires you to input information, mistakes can happen. If you cannot identify the source type correctly, you may end up selecting the incorrect citation format. If you are unable to locate the correct information, or can not recognize what information is incorrectly placed, your citation will be wrong.
Always double-check with someone if you are unsure. The librarians are here to help you locate information, which includes information to help you cite your sources accurately.