Digital reference management
| This activity gives the students the very basic grounding and knowledge needed to be able to start using a digital reference management tool competently. The students gain an understanding of different aspects related to references, such as what a reference is, what a reference standard is, what different references look like, why it is important to cite and when you should cite.
In groups, through a jigsaw activity, the students try making references themselves according to a given The students are briefly introduced to digital reference management tools. All links for running the activities are at the bottom |
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CONTEXT
The students need a basic understanding of the importance of crediting and using references correctly in an academic context. This is essential in academic project and assignment work. This understanding can help counteract plagiarism.
The ethics of using others' materials and referring to the original work of others is not only important in an academic context, but can also be relevant in a professional context.
Being digitally competent in this academic context includes being able to understand and use relevant digital tools that can help organise and set out correct references and bibliographies in connection with written work. This can be a time-saving tool and can help ensure more correct references and bibliographies.
OUTCOME
Students gain the grounding to make better use of a digital reference management tool.
Students gain a basic understanding of what references are, how they read a reference and how they should be used
CONTENT AND STEPS OF THE ACTIVITY
The students gain an understanding of different aspects related to references, such as what a reference is, what a reference standard is, what different references look like, why it is important to cite, when you should cite.
In groups, through a jigsaw activity, the students try making references themselves according to a given reference standard
The students are very briefly introduced to reference management tools.
BEFORE THE ACTIVITY
- Have suitable rooms
- Ensure access to the chosen reference management tool
THE ACTIVITY STEP BY STEP
- Present your talk, and during it run any buzz exercise between the students in pairs about why you should cite (see the Preparation section)
- Divide the students into their groups
- Hand out to each group a physical copy of the material they are to work with and the accompanying jigsaw pieces
- Let each group work with two different material types (a book and an article) – 15 minutes per round – 2 rounds in total (or more, if there is time for it)
- After the 2 rounds of group work, there is a round-up on the different material types and what the references for the materials used should look like
- Ask the class how it was to have to make references themselves, what was difficult/easy, where there were challenges.
- The round of questions is followed up by the intro video for the chosen reference management tool.
AFTER THE ACTIVITY
The teacher explains where the students can find out more about the reference management tool if they want to use it. Here you can refer to the institution's library courses, website or the reference management tool's own website.
MATERIALS AND PREPARATION
| Preparation | Materials |
|---|---|
| The teacher decides which reference standard the students are to be introduced to, e.g. APA, Harvard, Vancouver etc. Here personal preferences, the curriculum, the institution and so on may be significant for the choice. | Find and select the specific material examples the jigsaw can be based on |
| The teacher decides which reference management tool the students are to be introduced to. Here personal preference, institutional licence, attitude to open source/paid product may be significant for the choice. You can get guidance from your institution's library regarding this choice. | Jigsaw pieces have to be made – One set of jigsaw pieces is made per reference type, for which the students are to try to make a correct reference, based on the chosen examples. Set up a correct reference for the material and “cut” it into the reference elements (the jigsaw pieces) that the students should be able to puzzle with. You decide yourself how difficult the jigsaw should be, e.g. whether you make pieces with the different reference elements (author, year, publisher etc.), and then the students simply have to puzzle their way to the right order. Or whether you make pieces right down to individual parts, e.g.. a piece with a surname, a piece with a first name, a piece with a bracket, a piece with a full stop etc. The last option will be the most difficult for the students to do. |
The teacher prepares a talk containing the following elements:
(cover the most common ones: book, article, part of a book, conference paper, website (the selection of the most common ones may depend a little on the academic discipline) To prepare the talk, help can be found on the website http://stopplagiat.nu/ and on the chosen reference style's website |
Ensure access to the chosen reference management tool, e.g. Zotero, Mendeley, RefWorks etc. |
| Find or make an intro video about the chosen reference management tool. If you do not want to make one yourself, or your institution does not have one, find one on the tool's own website, YouTube or via a Google search. | |
| Divide the students into smaller groups of 4-5 people per group |
CREATED BY
Helle Brink and Charlotte Wind,
Aalborg Universitetsbibliotek.
EXTERNAL RESOURCES
Links to reference management tools
https://refworks.proquest.com/
THE STAK PROJECT
This learning element is an edited version of a learning pattern from the research project STAK (Studerendes Akademiske Digitale Kompetencer).
Through a particular method, the project developed a number of learning patterns/paths, especially within information literacy. The elements are aimed
primarily at teachers, either as inspiration or to be integrated directly into teaching.
If you are curious about the method, you can see the original research website at: https://web.archive.org/web/20251118005249/https://www.stak.dk/