Poster Session at ALA2011, New Orleans, LA

1. Cynthia S. Wetzel
Perkinston Library
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community
College
Erin E. Boyd
Rosa Parks Library
Troy University – Montgomery
Abstract: The ubiquitous mobility of today's researchers and students requires accessibility to sources and resources at all
times and in all places. Web-based bibliographic reference management platforms, such as CiteULike, EasyBib, and Zotero, provide
this accessibility, in addition to assisting the user to produce the desired documentation. Keeping track of research citations,
properly formatting those citations by style, and preparing a bibliography are time-consuming and often tedious tasks for both the
student and the professional researcher. Finding the best economical, one-stop tool for one’s needs is critical to managing
information today. This presentation will review three popular, no-cost or low-cost platforms for ease of use, scope of resources,
and limitations. This poster compiles and compares features, upgrading options, product support, and sociability via communities
and forums, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and so on. On-site laptops display screen shots from each service, as well as brief tutorials.
Handouts are available via the Internet or by email from the authors.
Make Mine To-Go:
Comparison of Web-based
Bibliographic Management Tools
Cost /
Upgrade Options
- Free
- No upgrade options
- Free
- MyBib Pro ($4.99/mo., $14.99/6 mo., $19.99/yr.)
- Free
- Additional fee for storage beyond 100 Mb
Ease of Use - Moderate to steep learning curve
- Refined search requires use of syntax inquiry
- Citation & bibliography creation
- Extremely user-friendly interface
- Visually intuitive
- Moderate learning curve, some hitches
Scope of Resources - “Trusted” sites via search
- Non-supported journals or URLs via manual entries
- Creates citations for up to 58 formats - References are saved on your computer, backed up on the web
Sharing/Collaboration - Create a “Group” to share files publically or privately - Download files to Word or Google Docs (share externally) - Create a “Group” to share files publically or privately
Citation Manger/Generator - Both a citation manager and citation generator - Citation generator only - Both a citation manager and citation generator
Import Methods - Use bookmark to add individual articles as they are found - Bibtex, Endnote & text files (Pro account; beta) - Use icon in browser's address bar
Output - Cannot create bibliography (citations article by article) - Citations, bibliography
- MLA (free), APA or Chicago/Turabian (with paid subscription)
- In-text citations, citations, bibliographies in multiple formats.
Accessibility
(Internet, Smartphone)
- Web-based only
- Operating system independent
- Web-based only
- Operating system independent
- iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch app
- Planned Android app (Summer release)
- Web-based functionality
- Local and “cloud” synced storage
- Operating system independent
- Convenient tool for laptop users
Advantages - Facebook login
- Collaborate with groups
- Everything is housed in “the cloud”
- Works with EndNote, Reference Manager (exports), Zotero
(imports), and syncs with Mendeley
- Third-Party Login
- Google Apps (Docs)
- Provides citation reference guides (MLA, APA, Chicago)
- Off-line access (synced with “the cloud”)
- Collaborate with groups
- Stores PDFs and website citations
- Extensive support (tutorials, help guides, screencasts, forums, blogs, etc.)
Limitations - Best used with supported journals
- No off-line access
- Only works with traditional academic formats
- Commercial advertising
- Only MLA in free version
- Does not allow group collaboration
- Commercial advertising (free account)
- Must use Firefox
- Lack of duplicate record detection
Comparable Management Tools - ColWiz; Connotea - Citation Machine; BibMe; OttoBib; NoodleTools (similar but
limited);
- EndNote; RefWorks; Mendeley; ProCite; Sente; Heurist
CiteULike
Store - Organize - Share
 Specifically designed for researching
academic papers (in particular, from
supported journals)
• Quality content; but not always free full-
text (limited by institution access or
subscription)
 Search limiters available only as syntax
inquiry (e.g., year:[2001 TO 2003],
tag:literacy, author:”Smith John D”
 Sociability: neighbors/connections (i.e.,
friends), groups, messaging, blog
(user/group), forums, interests
 Share via Facebook, Twitter
 16 citation styles available
 Browser button for Firefox, IE, Safari
 Follow on Twitter (@CiteULike)
Zotero
See it. Save it. Sort it. Search it. Cite it.
 Cite in multiple styles including APA, MLA, Chicago; dozens more available
(e.g., Turabian)
 Application plug-ins (MS Word, OpenOffice/LibreOffice/NeoOffice)
 Will work with Google Docs
 Standalone Alpha for Mac, Windows & Linux
 Connectors for use with Chrome & Safari (IE is planned)
 Follow on Twitter (@Zotero)
EasyBib
Write Smart.
Fast ISBN citing
Mostly benefits those in the
humanities (free citation = MLA)
Log-in links through third-party
servers: Facebook, Google,
Yahoo, AOL, OpenID
Upgrade to Pro version for
additional citation styles &
outlining/notecard functionality
Mobile platforms
Follow on Twitter (@EasyBib)
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