Son of Citation Machine

Those looking for free help in putting their citations into proper MLA format should check out "Son of Citation Machine," which is a free (ad supported) internet app that guides you through the process and generates MLA format by just having you fill in a few blanks.  It even tells you how to cite the work properly for in-text citation.  So no excuses! 

Library Links

Today we are going to have an introduction to the resources of the Rutgers Libraries, so I thought I'd give you some useful links to material that we will likely cover today.  I will update this later to include any resources I may have left out.

Useful Links

Rutgers RIOT
See the screenshot above.  This is a great animated tutorial on using the libraries.

Searchpath
A more print-based tutorial on the RU Libraries.

English 201 Research in the Disciplines
A research guide for 201 students, this is a great place to start if you are looking for some guidance in finding the best library resources.

English 201: College!
A research guide designed for our specific section, put together by a librarian last year.  This guide is no longer supported, so the links will eventually die, but it looks useful -- especially links to RU-specific data.

University Faculty and Staff Experts Directory
This could be a very useful resource for identifying subject area experts to interview on your topic.  Remember: one of the requirements for the final paper is to interview an expert.

Refworks
Refworks is a great tool for organizing your research, and you can find information at the link above.  The Libraries also invite students, faculty, and staff to attend a workshop on how to save time and trouble in creating bibliographies and endnotes, by using RefWorks - a resource on the homepage of the Libraries' website (www.libraries.rutgers.edu). The Libraries will be offering the same two and a half hour workshop in the mornings on two different days - Friday March 8th and Friday March 29th. Both workshops start at 9:30 am and will be held in Room 413, on the fourth floor of Alexander Library.  To register for one of these workshops, please go to: http://ctaar.rutgers.edu/workshops/register/

RefWorks is a web-based bibliography and database manager that allows users to create and manage their own personal bibliographic database. RefWorks is free to members of the Rutgers community. The Basic RefWorks workshop helps users create RefWorks accounts, acquire references of all types (books, journals, media, etc.) from numerous sources, organize and manage their bibliographies, and insert references into MS Word documents. This workshop will also introduce several useful RefWorks tools, such as RefShare (to share bibliographies with both Rutgers and outside collaborators) and RefGrab-It (to acquire bibliographic information from web- based resources, such as Google Scholar). Finally, the tool Write-N-Cite will demonstrate how to easily incorporate references into an MS Word document and automatically create end notes and a bibliography. No prior knowledge of RefWorks is required.

Diverse Millennial Students in College Lecture

"Diverse Millennial Students in College" is the title of a new book and of a lecture at the Rutgers Student Center on College Avenue, Thursday, March 7, from 10:30 am - 1:00 p.m. with a free lunch reception to follow those who register.  Like the book, the lecture will deal with the unique challenges and circumstances faced by the current cohort of African-American, Latino/a, Asian and LGBT students.  Speakers include Dr. Lonnie Booker, Dr. Samuel Museus, Dr. Nana Osei-Kofi, and Dr. Stephanie Waterman, whose contributions to the book cover a broad range of issues, as described in a recent review.  The lecture is part of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Lecture Series and is the first of two parts, the second of which will run April 4th at the same time and location.  I recommend it to anyone whose topic touches on diversity issues.