20. Click to edit Master title style
Referencing Solved?
The RefME solution??
Kathryn Ballard and Hannah Porter
Information Librarians
June 2016
Editor's Notes
HANNAH
So we are information librarians, Hannah and Kathryn
And we are here to talk to you about Referencing!
As librarians, we get asked about referencing every minute of every day….
Referencing is a major issue with which students constantly struggle and RefME, a new start-up company, have developed a solution.
Hopefully some of you have already heard of RefME and you and your students are using it….
Since launch, RefME claim they have grown faster than Twitter or Facebook (which they have a large student presence on!), gathering an impressive 1 million users in their first year.
Lots of funny posts on twitter
How many of you using twitter? Follow them if wanted
We got involved with RefME in 2015 when students first discovered it for themselves
We are now one of RefME’s technology innovation Partners
– this means we get to help with their product development
– we provide lots of feedback and have done lots of testing over the past year for their new products
which are now coming online as part of a new paid for service called RefME Institute
which the Library is paying for a subscription to (more on this in a moment)
Basic RefME is available for free so anyone/ any institution can use it – lots of other University use the basic package
BUT, what’s different at SOLENT?
we have worked closely with RefME to make our Solent Harvard style available for students to use
RefME can therefore can create a simple SOLENT reference list for a student assignment in minutes – and it does it really well!
Wordle here of the feedback from sessions we ran with the basic RefME package with level 4 and 5 students.
As you can see – EASY is the key thing – and use and useful
Even those who had already discovered RefME found the sessions useful as they may not have selected the correct style previously, or knew about additional features
Great sessions to run – students actually get excited about referencing and how easy RefME can make it!
So, using innovative and modern technology, RefME have managed to develop a simple yet effective tool for efficient referencing – which students love!
uncluttered, clear and easy
we don’t provide much guidance in sessions – just introduce and let the students get on with it!
Let’s show you some screens….
KATHRYN
So find RefME on google or via the library –
Easy to sign up, would prefer students to use their Solent email but don’t have to
Encourage students to create different projects for each assignment and store references in these
First thing we want students to do is go into the Styles option and find the official Solent Harvard style
Very easy to do
Choosing the style ensures their references match the style Solent recommends in the Harvard factsheet we make available to all students (and to the guidance on succeed@solent).
So, some examples of creating references –
Fro websites, you can simply Copy paste the url
It then shows them what it is going to enter – you can change from a personal to an organisation – especially important for websites!
Then shows you the reference it has created, listed in your project with the full reference and an in-text reference
Barcode scanner
Students can download a barcode scanner to their mobile and scan barcode on back of book to send reference straight into RefME account – syncs with web version.
Students like this feature – but we also need to promote the web version with it’s extra functionality
Take a book mark and have a go!
On CHROME you can install RefME’s webclipper.
Available from their apps and add-ins at the top – really easy to install on any computer
Pulls reference data from behind websites and journals
You can edit on this screen too and then simply add to your project – easy!!
Can create references for loads of things in lots of different ways
For books, copy and paste the title or the ISBN
For articles, search by title and author
But main ones are going to be websites/articles via REfME WEB CLIPPER and BARCODE phone app for books which students love!!
Extra features, can add page numbers, notes etc.
Once you are ready, you can easily get your reference lists out of RefME – simply click on export from the project you want and choose your option!
So choose copy and paste – select the full reference list in A-Z order or with the in-text cites as well
Or put directly into word….
HANNAH
RefME’s free product has been brilliant but they have now developed a paid for version for even more features!
SOLENT ARE GETTING THIS!
Key benefits for students
Refme for Word, show you in a mo
Photo quotes - using your mobile – scan and insert a quote with your reference
Word add in – needs word 2016 at the moment
Therefore won’t be on student build this year but students can download it for free from the portal
In word, download it from the app store
and then sign-in and choose your style and choose which project you want to use
And start typing! ….
Enter your quote or paraphrase
Choose your reference on the side
Edit and add page numbers as appropriate
Appears in your text
Edit and continue to add as many references as wanted
Automatically creates your bibliography on a separate page as you add in your citations
So lots available from RefME – word plugin, also one on photo quotes you can watch and some nice ones on how and why to cite and about referencing and citations generally
Follow the RefME Youtube Channel….
Links on library page….
Also look at RefME’s blog and twitter and facebook pages for interesting posts and research into students and referencing/plagiarism
So, have REfME solved the referencing puzzle? Hmm, let’s wait and see
Students still have to understand why they are referencing – REfME just a tool to help
Lots of other, more complicated products are available such as Mendeley, Zotero, Refworks
Recommend RefME for basic quick undergrad referencing
RefWorks for our researchers as both have the SOLENT style
KATHRYN
Library support for referencing
Box on the library portal – one of the highest hit pages on the portal!
Factsheet, succeed@solent tutorial
Information about RefME and also RefWorks
Really happy to come and talk to your students about all this
So, that’s it! The future of referencing is possibly RefME - but RefWorks also have a new interface coming along which may change things…..
But for the moment
So please do promote our RefME institutional subscription to your students from September!! We need your help!