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UGS 302: When Worlds Collide / Deans-Smith

Keep yourself organized

Research gets messy

You might be using a citation manager like EasyBib - I have issues with EasyBib's accuracy (ever see an abbreviation like n.d. or n.p. in your automatic citation? That means there's something missing), but you can use whatever citation manager you like as long as you are paying attention. I suggest NoodleTools because it's free, walks you through every step of citation and you can store citations the whole time you're at UT. 

Simple tips for being an organized researcher: 

1) See something you like? Name it and save it on your computer/cloud, put it in a folder for your project. 

2) Don't get into the habit of saving articles by URL. URLs change. When you are in the subscriptions we have at the libraries, the URLs are not stable. Save pdfs or use permanent link options if available.

3) When you find evidence you like, take a minute to record why you like it. You can do this in the notes or outline feature in NoodleTools. The point is that you may forget why you searched for something and for which argument you were looking for support.

4) Searching can be exhausting. Take screenshots or record search strategies that worked. You'll forget what keywords you used and where you searched.

NoodleTools

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