What is a reference manager?

Reference managers are software and/or webtools that allow you to manage your references for research projects.

For example, have you ever read an interesting fact and then couldn't remember where you read it? Reference managers allow you to save your references as you research, so that when it is time to write your paper, you have a library of references that you can pull from!

What can reference managers do for you?

• A reference manager allows you to keep a library of citations for articles and resources relevant to your research.
• Reference managers help you keep track of all the resources you have consulted since you began your research.
• Reference managers can generate in text citations and reference pages in a variety of formats.
• You can use shared libraries so that your peers and colleagues can see what you have shared access to libraries.

The main reference managers that you will hear about are Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote. In this module, we will show you how to download and use Zotero.