EasyBib helps the bibliographically challenged
Most of us are familiar with the harried looking student who comes to the Reference Desk and announces that they have a paper due tomorrow and they still need to prepare the bibliography. Sure you can refer them to any of the style guides, but isn't there something that can really help?
EasyBib is a free website that automates the process of preparing a bibliography in your choice of formats: APA, Chicago/Turabian, and MLA styles. This could be the best referral.
As outlined in the instructions, preparing a bibliography is a basic three step process:
1.) Search for your source 2.) Build your bibliography 3.) Print or export it!
The first half of the following 3 minute tutorial explains how to use EasyBib to create a bibliography; the second half of the tutorial explains some of its other useful features:
Well that's the idea anyway. But it may take a little time for you to become familiar with the site and to figure out how it works. For example, when starting the search for your source, EasyBib defaults to something called "Autocite" to try and locate your reference. What they don't tell you in the video is that sometimes Autocite doesn't work and can not locate what you are looking for, or even worse, makes some preposterous suggestions. If this happens, you are then invited to complete a "Manual Entry" where you are advised, "just fill out what you know" and "we'll format it correctly".
When Autocite does work successfully, however, the information that EasyBib finds for your reference is simply dropped in a form that allows for editing and annotation. The final step is to click on "Create Citation". The citation has now been added to your bibliography. I have had success in creating references for material across a variety of formats using EasyBib.
One quick example – when I input the part of TPL's website that relates to our Mission – I just 'cut and copied' the URL – it created this citation for me:
"Mission, Vision & Values : About the Library : Toronto Public Library." Home : Toronto Public Library. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. <http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/about-the-library/mission-vision-values/>.
Try playing around with EasyBib to see if it works for you. I wish this website had been around when I was a student. In summary . . . the strength of EasyBib is not that it is easy to use, but rather that it is capable of handling the complexity and richness of resource types that are found in conducting research today.
One thought on “EasyBib helps the bibliographically challenged”
Great resource which I will be sharing with many students and will also use myself. Thanks for the fabulous tip!