By now, you've been collecting a number of resources to use in your group project and your individual project. Have you collected enough that keeping track of them is becoming a challenge? If so, this strand will acquaint you with a software tool that you may decide you absolutely must have. Fortunately, UIS makes it available to you at a reduced cost.
Bibliography management software does exactly what you'd think it does - it manages bibliographic information. As you gather information, you can skip the 3x5 cards and enter the information directly into bibliography management software. The popular EndNote, available at a discount, has many fields that are handy to keep track of all the information you want about a resource; to remind you what it was about; and to save the information so you can find it again.
There are several similar products, but UIS makes EndNote available to UIS students below the academic price. You can have it for only $50 by visiting the UIS Software store.
If you'd like to try it before you buy it, you can visit the EndNote web site to read news about the latest version and reviews from satisfied customers. This week, your professor will be hosting an Elluminate Live! session to give you an idea what EndNote can do for you.
If, after attending the session, you think you'd be interested in EndNote, you can download a 30-day trial copy from their web site. If you don't think you will be purchasing it, you might want to count back 30 days from the end of the semester to be able to use it for free near the time your final paper is due.
Once you download it, start entering everything you read into it. That might seem a bit tedious, but this habit pays big dividends later. If you maintain the discipline to do this throughout your entire program of study, you will be well-prepared for your capstone project by the time it rolls around.
Take a closer look at one of the movies linked below. They demonstrate one of the many interesting capabilities of EndNote.
EndNote facilitates the tedious formatting it takes to list the references in a research paper. Review Chapter 4 of the APA Publication Manual to understand the detailed specifications the APA style dictates.
| Many thanks to the Graphics Communications classes at City College of San Francisco for making the icons used on this page and for making them publicly available. |