Zotero and Other Reference Generators

Many databases now provide document reference/citation information for a variety of styles: APA, Chicago, MLA, Turabian, etc. My experience has shown that all of these tools are close to accurate, but that even the best do not include some data elements. Some of the tools on the web include:

• www.zotero.org automatically generates a reference list based on a scan of a library catalog page. It is spritely when just a few references are needed, but froze when I tried to generate 50 at once. I noticed that its APA references omitted edition information for books. This free product only works as an add-on to version 2 of the Firefox browser.


• www.ottobib.com is a free tool that generates individual references for books. One uses this by typing-in the ISBN, and if Ottobib finds the bibliographic data, it creates a citation. As with Zotero, it omitted edition information.


• www.noodletools.com is a subscription service where one types-in the bibliographic information and a citation is generated. It has a free single-item entry mode that, while tedious, seemed to work flawlessly.


• www.connotea.org does not provide APA, but it claims to grab references from specific scientific sources (like a limited Zotero), and then allows the user to export them as an RIS file for ENDNOTE. Free.


• www.citeulike.org does not create bibliographies itself, but allows you to store and share bibliographic data. Free.

^-D.D.