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Graduate Student Services

Library resources for graduate students.

Revisiting Research

Tips & Tools for Graduate Students

Where effective and efficient research is concerned, it is extremely important that you take full advantage of the help, resources, and tools that are available to you.

Basic Objectives

  • Know how and where to get help.
  • Know the core resources for your subject.
  • Manage and organize your information intelligently.

Get the Help You Need

Your Subject Librarian

Every discipline has a library liaison, a librarian focused on helping you find and use research materials. Find out who your librarian is:

Help When You Need It:

Librarians are available for one-on-one consultation. Please don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need it.

Information Management & Organizational Tools

Citation Management

NWOSU Libraries Citation Help Page

Citation Generators

Chegg Sites

The following sites feature citation tools, but be aware that they have in recent years become heavy with ads and trackers. Use at your discretion:

Helpful Citation Websites

Productivity Tools:

Organize PDFs

  • Mendeley: Tool for managing and organizing PDFs and citations.
  • Zotero: Tool for managing citations, PDFs, saved images, and web pages.
  • Dropbox: Useful for saving documents to access them from multiple computers Create folders to share documents with a group.
  • Papers: Add PDFs, take notes, and cite documents as you write.
  • Goodreader: iPad/iPhone app for organizing files and annotating or highlighing PDFs. Syncs with Google Drive, MobileMe, Dropbox, and others.
  • Foxit: Fast PDF reader for making and saving annotations and highlights.

Organize Notes

Evernote: Save notes, files, web clips, and images. Sync to multiple devices. Annotate, organize, and tag content. For an overview of Evernote features read “Evernote: A 0-to-60 MPH Guide.

Organize Images

Flickr: Organize photos with sets, collections, tags, and groups. Share images or keep them private. Designate usage rights easily by using Creative Commons licenses.

Organize Alerts and Feeds

Most databases have an alert feature. This feature allows you to set up a feed or email alert based on a search so that articles that fit the criteria are sent to you when added published.

Other Hints & Tips

  • Know what research is required for your subject.

  • Understand what information you can get immediately and what you need to plan in advance for.

  • Keep up to date with what’s going on in your field.

  • Review the standards for Human Subject Research if you are involved in primary research. See the Institutional Review Board.

  • You can set up services to alert you when new content is published in your favorite journals.