Citation Help in Databases: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Ullen, Mary K. Van; Kessler, Jane

doi:10.1080/15228959.2011.620403

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The popularity of citation generators, especially free stand-alone tools like EasyBib or built in citation generators in databases, was a source of interest and concern by the authors because of their proven inaccuracy (Homol, 2014; Van Ullen and Kessler, 2012). Some chat staff members provided words of warning (“IBIS World and Mintel are rather unconventional compared to what EasyBib knows how to cite.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing citations: reviewing chat transcripts to improve citation assistance as a service

Wilkinson

Denneler

Nay

et al. 2021

RSR

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PurposeUsing chat transcripts from Indiana University Libraries, the authors examined a subset of transcripts involving citations. From this analysis, they propose improvements for citation assistance as a holistic service.Design/methodology/approachTwo years of chat transcripts were examined and questions containing citation-related keywords were segregated for further examination. The authors used a test data set to create a coding scheme for the questions and responses. This scheme was then applied to all the citation-related transcripts.Findings390 of 11,553 transcripts included interactions about citations. In 42% of the transcripts, no specific citation style was mentioned. American Psychological Association and Modern Language Association were the most frequently mentioned citation styles by chat users. Business reports (company data and market research), periodicals (journal, newspaper or magazine articles), websites and government documents were the most often asked about formats, but there was a wide variety of other unusual formats. Questions about EndNote were more common than other types of citation management software. Chat staff utilized a variety of responses including guiding the student by example, directing to an online resource for more information (85% of the responses) or referring to a citation management expert. An unexpected amount of hedging words in the responses indicates the presence of anxiety on the part of chat staff in responding to these types of questions.Originality/valueThis paper goes beyond most existing studies of chat transcripts by using chat transcripts as data to guide service improvements for a commonly asked but not typically discussed set of questions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing citations: reviewing chat transcripts to improve citation assistance as a service

Wilkinson

Denneler

Nay

et al. 2021

RSR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Higher error rate than those shown by studies using RMS further suggests that RMS utilization does offer benefit for writers in composing reference lists with less error. However, previous studies have unanimously agreed that no RMS has zero error percentage in generating references (Kessler & Ullen, 2005;Brahmi & Gall, 2006;Homol, 2014;Stevens 2016;Kratochvíl, 2017;Kessler & Ullen, 2006), while the accuracy of preformatted citations and citations from on-demand tools is only a fraction better (Ullen & Kessler, 2012). Therefore, in generating the ideal references, RMS usage must be followed by manual care and self-edit.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The result is that some knowledge of proper citation formats is necessary to use these programs effectively as the error rate per citation is quite high. In the follow up study to that (Ullen & Kessler, 2012), there is an improvement in the error rate, but the actual number is still unacceptably high. This paper adopted the method used in the previous studies to assess the accuracy of reference lists from LIPI scientists, whilst analyzed the comparison of error type and error rate, and drew conclusion from that analysis.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 95%

Reference Error in Book Manuscript From Lipi: How Good Our Scientists Are in Composing References

Helmiawan¹

2020

baca.j.dok.inf.

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Reference lists from 13 book manuscripts that were submitted to LIPI Press in 2018 written by the writers from LIPI were examined. In total, there were 879 reference list entries, and the accuracy of each citation was examined. The examination was conducted by firstly determining the type of error and reference style used for cross-checking. Afterwards, each entry was thoroughly checked for errors. Found errors were grouped into each type of error. The result, only 100 entries were error-free, and from the 779 entries that contain errors, 3,651 errors were found. The errors were categorized into 1,576 punctuation errors; 396 capitalization errors; 338 italicization errors, 206 spelling and word choice errors; 126 syntax errors; 642 spacing errors; 46 extraneous information errors; and 321 missing data errors. From that result, error rate of 4.15 was achieved. This paper concluded that the overall huge error rate found shows the negligence of the writers in composing references.

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“…The 2005 study looked at sources taken from actual student bibliographies and included print and online journal articles, books, and web sites (Kessler and Van Ullen, 2005). The two studies on citation help in databases focused on journal articles (Kessler and Van Ullen, 2006;Van Ullen and Kessler, 2012). Citations for journal articles are appreciably more complex than citations for print books and there are more elements required.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citation apps for mobile devices

Ullen

Kessler

2016

Reference Services Review

Self Cite

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the accuracy and functionality of a selection of basic Android and iOS apps for mobile devices designed to generate bibliographic citations.Design/methodology/approach -A number of inexpensive or free apps were installed on several different tablets and phones. Book citations in MLA and APA format were generated and evaluated for accuracy. Findings-Results show that the majority of the apps tested produced unacceptably inaccurate citations, and many had limited functionality. The best of the apps tested was EasyBib.Research limitations/implications -There are infinite combinations of operating systems, apps, citation styles, material types and devices. Testing for this study was limited to uncomplicated apps likely to appeal to undergraduate students. It did not include more sophisticated apps for managing reference libraries. The study investigated how well several Android and iOS apps installed on mobile devices functioned to generate MLA and APA citations for print books.Practical implications -As the role of mobile technology in education continues to grow, librarians need to remain aware of solutions that can help students manage their research. Librarians have an opportunity to provide feedback to developers by reviewing and rating apps.Originality/value -Undergraduate students face challenges in learning to appropriately acknowledge materials they have consulted in their research and writing. Librarians can play an important role in helping students select the most appropriate tools to make citing sources easier and more accurate.

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Citation Help in Databases: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Cited by 7 publications

References 4 publications

Constructing citations: reviewing chat transcripts to improve citation assistance as a service

Constructing citations: reviewing chat transcripts to improve citation assistance as a service

Reference Error in Book Manuscript From Lipi: How Good Our Scientists Are in Composing References

Citation apps for mobile devices

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