Organizational Tools for ResearchingOrganizational tools help you to keep track of your research, organize your notes, cite your sources, create a bibliography, and use Style Guides correctly. This page provides information on Zotero, EasyBib, and WorldCat Citation Tools.
Citation tools are applications which require students to create an account.
Setting up an account allows you to save multiple projects or bibliographies, share them with others, use the notebook tool, and more. You can create your own EasyBib account or log on with Facebook, Yahoo, or Google.
If you are using a public computer, be sure to log off when you are finished using your organzational tool of choice!
Creating Citations
For more in-depth tips on citing specific types of sources, see the library’s guides for citing a
book, periodical, or website.
1. From the library’s website, click on the EasyBib icon.
2. Log on with your SU ID number and password.
3. Log on to EasyBib or Zotero, once you have created your account
4. Choose the citation style – MLA, APA, or Chicago/Turabian.
5. Click on the tab for the type of source you are citing – website, book, newspaper, journal, or database. If you are citing a different kind of source, such as a DVD, blog, interview, etc., click on "All other options" tab.
A style guide, or manual, provides invaluable direction on all aspects of the writing process, from the ethics of authorship to the word choice that best reduces bias in language.
Many academic disciplines have their own style guide. Some journals even have their own specific style!
Ask your professor what style he or she wishes you to use on your paper/project.
These guides offer guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures, and tone that will result in strong, simple, and elegant communication.
Visit Southwestern's own Debby Ellis Writing Center webpage for more in-depth information on the writing process, citations, and avoiding plagiarism.
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by 
The ACS Style Guide by The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is the standard citation style used in physics and some engineering courses.
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
Concise Rules of APA Style by 
American Sociological Association Style Guide by 
MLA handbook for writers of research papers
MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishingOrganizational Tool: Zotero
You can add PDFs, images, audio and video files, snapshots of web pages...and so on.
Zotero is the only research tool that automatically senses content in your web browser, allowing you to add it to your personal library with a single click. Whether you're searching for a preprint, a journal article from JSTOR, a news story from the New York Times, or a book from your university library catalog, Zotero has you covered with support for thousands of sites. Whether you need to create footnotes, endnotes, in-text citations, or bibliographies, Zotero will do all the dirty work for you. Zotero forums provide extensive support for users just like you!
Enter manually
Create a Bibliography
Using EasyBib, you can create a works cited list and parenthetical (in-text) citations and create a citation automatically (autocite), if it recognizes the book, website, journal article etc. EasyBib has other features, such as a notebook tool that lets you take notes for your project, organize notes, and link them to citations. Watch the video below to learn more about the notebook tool.
Add EasyBib to GoogleDocs simply by selecting it as an "Add-on."
