Library toolbars, extensions and web apps: little tools with big impact

This class is taught by Nicole Hennig and Darcy Duke for IAP 2007.
Monday, Jan. 22, 4 – 5 pm, E25-117. Course description.

Also offered on Wed. April 25, 5 – 6:30 pm.

Course outline

A. Search tools

1. MIT Libraries LibX Toolbar for Firefox

2. Worldcat.org, Google Scholar, Google Book Search

3. Useful Firefox extensions and features

See also: Browser extensions and toolbars for library research

B. Organize and share information

1. LibraryThing

Organize your personal library online and find others who have similar collections. Searches Amazon, MIT Libraries Barton catalog, and 60 other world libraries. Tag your books. Export your data. Import from almost anywhere. Enter 200 books for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life). Take the LibraryThing tour for more information.

2. Del.icio.us

All your bookmarks in one place. Check out what other people are bookmarking. Collaboration – friends, coworkers, and other groups can use a shared account, special tag, or their del.icio.us networks to collect and organize bookmarks that are relevant to the entire group. See “what is del.icio.us?” for more information.

3. RefWorks, EndNote

Popular bibliographic citation managers. Refworks is a web-based tool provided free to MIT users by the MIT Libraries. EndNote is client software must be purchased. The MIT Libraries provides separate guides and classes on these products.

4. Zotero

Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives where you do your work — in Firefox itself. See Zotero’s quick start guide for more info. Watch this screencast for a quick demo.

5. CiteULike

Free web-based tool that allows you to easily save and share academic citations by clicking on a bookmarklet in your browser.


Comparison of Citation Management Tools:

  CiteULike Del.icio.us Endnote LibraryThing RefWorks Zotero
Type web-based web-based client software, now has web interface through ISI Web of Knowledge web-based web-based Firefox extension
Cost free free must purchase client software; web version free for MIT free for 200 items; inexpensive to subscribe free while at MIT free; open-source
Export Import yes, numerous popular bibliographic formats can import and export bookmarks, export tag clouds to web sites and blogs yes, numerous popular bibliographic formats export your library as a tabbed text file yes, numerous popular bibliographic formats yes, numerous popular bibliographic formats
Geared towards articles and books web sites all formats books all formats articles and books

C. Questions