Analytics

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Widgets

Wonderful Works CIted Websites (for free)

Creating a Works Cited page from scratch is not a skill I think my students need when there are many available and free sites to help them. Here are the five sites my students use the most. I put plus signs (+) next to things I appreciated about them and minus signs (-) next to some faults.

Easybib is probably my students' favorite.
+I like it mainly because they have an app which allows students to simply scan a bar code, pull up the information, and put it in MLA format!  Great for students actually using paper sources.
-NOTE: EasyBib does MLA for free. If you teach APA or Chicago style it costs students money so another site may be better.

CitationMachine was one of my colleagues favorites.
+She swore it was more reliable than EasyBib. I have seen no difference worth mentioning, but it does have a slightly different layout so some students may prefer this site.
+I do like that it creates in text citations for students to use.
+It has MLA, APA, Turbian and Chicago and easily lets you export the finished product.
+It also has clear step by step directions.

BibMe is another useful freebie.
+It has MLA, APA, Turbian and Chicago.
+It also easily allows you to export your finished product.
+You can register for a free account and save your progress online.
+It also has a nifty citation guide.

KnightCite is through the Calvin University.
+It offers MLA, APA, and Chicago.
+You can create reference pages for free without registering.
+If you register, for free, you can save your work, export it, alphabetize your sources, and do a few other things.
-Of the sites this is probably my least favorite, but it does get the job done.

NoodleTools is the site I used way back when I learned how to cite in high school.
-It is subscription only, however many many schools  have subscriptions.
+If your school already pays for this, then I'd suggest you use this.

With ALL of these please remember that machines are not perfect! When your students generate a works cited page they should still review it to make sure it conforms to the rules they know (or at least the sample you gave them).

Overall using these sites makes citing in a Works Cited page easy which means students are more likely to do it.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for commenting. Due to spam, your comment may not show up right away, but as soon as I get a chance to approve it I will. I promise to be as fast as possible!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...