Thing 14 - Citation Tools

I did not use a citation tool for either of the two research projects I have worked on, so am familiar with the laborious task of creating references manually then cutting and pasting them into documents and finally creating a bibliography. I had to use different referencing styles for each of the projects, which created another learning opportunity. If nothing else, this process provided me with a familiarisation with those style guides that I believe is essential before using citation tools.

I now have yet another citation style that I have had to become familiar with - the New Zealand Law Style Guide (NZLSG) - through marking footnotes and bibliographies for Year 3 and post-graduate law students. As part of my professional development, I have had to use EndNote to reference two assessments for my legal studies. The NZLSG  is a relatively new style (January 2010). It is hoped this will be adopted throughout the legal profession at all levels in New Zealand. I found when using it, that my knowledge of the style guide was invaluable. There are a couple of types of resources that are not covered within EndNote, so it is important to know the style well. I would not recommend EndNote for law undergraduates, as the number of references required at this level does not justify the work required of inputing the data - it is just as easy to create them manually and cut and paste as required. Manually creating references also gives students an opportunity to practice using the NZLSG. However, I would strongly recommend it to honours and post-graduate students. The NZLSG committee has called for submissions, and the Davis Team has made a submission seeking clarification in places and making suggestions for inclusions in the next edition.

I have not looked at the citation tools highlighted in Thing 14, as it is unlikely that they will have the NZLSG as a style. In addition to this, the University of Auckland currently supports EndNote and is piloting RefWorks. I need to brush up on my RefWorks skills. I know that Victoria University of Wellington are doing some work with Zotero, but until there is some headway there and unless the University of Auckland decide to support Zotero, I will stay with EndNote and RefWorks.