Using EasyBib
BCPS now has a district license for EasyBib. Students can create projects, cite resources quickly and easily, take notes, organize them, create an outline, and even write their paper. Teachers can create drop folders in which students can turn in work.
To get started: go to www.easybib.com
Click on Sign Up.
Teachers fill in the information, using your BCPS email and a password of your choosing. You must also enter a coupon code which can be obtained from Ms. Falkinburg.
Students enter your name and create an email address using your first initial and last name @bcps.org (you will not need to authenticate using email). You must use your BCPS external password. Ms. Falkinburg can give you that information. Get the coupon code from Ms. Falkinburg.
Once you have created your account, log in if it does not do so automatically. You will be taken to your dashboard.
You can see all of your projects in the center area. Under each project name are links which will take you directly to the Bibliography, Notebook, or Paper in that project.
You can create a new project by clicking on the orange button that says + New Project.
To continue with an existing project, click on one of the blue links under the project name.
To add items to your bibliography, click on the blue bibliography link under your project name.
Click on the tab for the type of material you want to site. For a website, simply paste the URL into the field and click add. You can add books by entering the title or the ISBN number, for newspaper or journal enter the article title. Notice that there are other options on the last tab. Once you have entered the information in the field, click the orange Cite It button.
From your results, choose the correct item by clicking on the orange Cite This button to the right of the correct item.
Notice that you have some tabs at the top for items that might be ebooks or databases. Fill in any missing information. When the all information is entered click the orange Create Citation button.
The citation is completed and added to your bibliography.
Notice you can still edit or delete it and even add comments.
The bibliography can be shared via email and when completed, exported as a Word doc, a google doc, or emailed.
EasyBib has a really cool feature which allows you to send a citation directly from any Gale database article. With the article open, look in the right-hand menu and click on Citation Tools. Click on EasyBib. You must have your bibliography open in EasyBib. The citation will appear in your bibliography.
Clicking the analyze button shows students information about their bibliography and the types of resources they have cited. This is a great information literacy tool for students.
Students can take their notes right in EasyBib and keep them safe! Each note is entered separately and clicking on them shows a notecard-like appearance. From the project menu, choose Notebook.
Click to create a note card.
Students should title the note for easier organization later. Use the pull down menu to choose the source for this note. All sources entered in the projects’ bibliography will be available.
There are three sections for text entry: a direct quote, paraphrasing section, and a comment section. Also notice under identifier students can enter a page number, etc. If you click on Organize you get some choices for tagging the note. Students can create groups or give the note a keyword tag. This will assist in the writing of the paper or project.
Once notes have been added, they can be viewed or edited from the notebook. Rolling your mouse over a note gives you a menu. If you click Maximize, you will see a notecard view showing all of the information you typed into the pop-up menu. Clicking on Edit will open the notecard text entry popup, allowing you to edit your note.
While in Notebook, notice there is a place on the right to enter a paper thesis. Clicking on the bold type will allow you to replace that text with the thesis. Clicking on the orange New Bullet button, adds a new Roman Numeral to your outline.
If you click on New item, you can replace the text.
Notecards can be printed and bibliographies exported as Word documents. Clicking Share will allow a student to share their work with the teacher (or others) If a teacher has created a Public folder, the student can share by entering the teacher’s email. The folder will then show up in the dropdown menu.
Barb Falkinburg Sept 2014.