Citation Solutions

This wiki should be a work in progress. I would like to compare the pros and cons of using a web-based bibliography builder like Easybib.com compared with using Word 2007's References features. The school's faculty needs to decide on a consistent way to teach citation. If we find an easy way to teach citation of sources, we can become more consistent at holding students accountable and focus on improving research.

Word 2007:

Positives	Negatives
A "standard" in word processing	Works Cited generator does not produce an MLA formatted works cited page!
POWERFUL! MLA, APA, footnotes, Turabian and Chicago.	Too many features? Some features like putting in-text citations in with the insert citation feature require right-click-accessed steps to revert to "static" text and input the page number where the fact was found; ie: (Dittmer 2) instead of (Dittmer) <-- "dynamic" version cannot be altered except by altering the reference itself.
native interface. less switching between windows, which is a challenge for students who refuse to learn shortcut keys.	MLA 7th edition (2009) not supported

EasyBib

Positives	Negatives
Online! Accessible from anywhere	Produces perfectly formatted works cited pages with a simple export feature.
Not dependent on available software	APA costs money, but who uses APA in high school? AP Science and at least one government/civics class, for starters. (dlong)
Easy interface	Students need to sign up to access all features and guarantee that lists are saved. I think the old list ID # feature for accessing lists is gone. Correct me if I'm wrong.
MLA 7th edition (2009) supported

created by: Ryan Shumaker, Director of Technology, West Perry School District.