In class this week we (those of us that didn't have it) downloaded EndNote, a referencing system which will surely make life easier when writing our assignments. I've never used it before, it wasn't around when I was at Uni last time. It definitely would have helped during my Arts degree, where there were heaps of references for each essay. I used to spend hours making my reference page perfect, mostly as way to defer the actual writing part.
Also this week we were editing articles on Trove and Wikipedia. I've never edited anything on Wikipedia, never really had a desire to, but Trove is much more my style. It's a bit like a crossword, or a word search, and I love a crossword. I have been working on my cryptic crossword abilities, but a straight crossword I'm very good at. So the work that Trove needs, the editing of the text, is something that I can do for hours.
An interesting blog that i found this week is judyoconnell.com. She writes thoughtful pieces on libraries and connectivity that I've found quite helpful. She's a Teacher Librarian now working at Charles Sturt University as Course Director in the School of Information Studies. Many of her blog posts are closely related to what we're studying here, which is great.
I remember during my undergraduate degree I always loved the writing and the research for an essay but I hated the actual referencing. I always thought/felt "well I know its not plagiarism" so doing my reference list always felt like busywork. I think EndNote would have been perfect for me.
ReplyDeleteI used to love organising my references page! Getting it all laid out just-so...I think probably, like you Nerida, to delay making the assignment 'just-so' as well. I'm also with you on the subject of Trove - I could do it for HOURS. Unfortunately I don't really have hours to give it at the moment, but a sneaky bit here and there can't hurt...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to judyconnell.com - I enjoyed reading through it.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was the only one who spent hours on getting the referencing right before endnote came along :) .
ReplyDelete