Easy Bib

## Key Terms

**EasyBib**: EasyBib is an online resource meant for students which allows them to be able to cite sources, making it easier for them to create their works cited page.

**Cite**: Allows you to type in the website, book, article, etc. that you are looking at so it can write out everything you need such as who the author is, what year it was published, the title of the article etc. EasyBib has a tool which helps you specify what digital literacy you want to cite by distinguishing whether it is an article, a video, a journal, a book, etc.. This helps EasyBib create a more accurate citation of your source. The cite also allows you to create and revise your own annotated bibliography under the cited source.

**Formats**: There are several formats that allow you to cite your pages as needed, such as MLA format. Chicago format, APA format and more are available as well.

**Manual Cite:** Allows you to type in the information if the automatic citing does not work or can not find any information on the article you are looking at.

**Project:** The project option on EasyBib allows you to put together all of the citations pertaining to the same paper, so that they're all in one place and easier to get to. This allows you to later copy and paste all of the citations onto your work cited page.

## Analysis

**Background Information about Easy Bib:** Easy Bib started out in the year 2001 as a cheating system for high school students in order to create their work cited pages. The founders of Easy Bib are Darshan Somashekar and Neal Taparias, who were just high school students when they created Easy Bib. The program tool was abandoned by them right after they graduated from high school, as their parents wanted them to go out and look for jobs in the corporate world. In 2007, they both came back to it but saw there was not much progress with the website so they decided to improve it and since then, 38 million students have accessed the site since it was upgraded.

**Who uses it currently?**: Easy Bib is used mostly by students who are currently in high school or college.

**What is the purpose?:** It makes it easier for students to be able to cite their sources automatically, rather than have to look at the source piece by piece in order to find information on who the author is, when it was published, etc.

**How does Easybib benefit society?:** Easybib benefits society in many ways. For example, they help students avoid plagiarism by teaching students how to properly and accurately cite their sources. Easybib makes it easier for students to properly document their source while writing their paper. Besides worrying about plagiarism, Easy Bib also makes writing papers or citing sources a lot easier and less intimidating.

**Drawbacks which accompany the use of Easybib:** Although Easybib is a very useful site, it does have drawbacks. Some believe this site will include all information just by pasting the site into their convertor bar, but that is not the case. Although this is not entirely true, Easybib does not retrieve/input all information to their site, which may not create full citations. Also, the Easybib website has many ads and is very persistent on paying for upgrades if you are using free services.

**Other Features of Easy-bib:** Although most people don't know it, easy-bib has extended features that are extremely helpful to students such as a notebook section, mobile app and a website evaluation tool. The notebook section allows you to copy and paste quotes and create notes under them and be able to color code the notes to keep them in order. The mobile app is available for free on iphone and android phones. The website evaluation tool analyzes the most cited websites and tells students which cites are credible and which are not. The drawback to these features is that users have to pay approximately ten dollars a month to be able to use these features.

**Testimonials**

1. “Easybib is a great product that made teaching - and learning - research skills much easier.”— **Paula Feid, Undergraduate Librarian at New York University in New York, NY**
2. “I have used other citation tools in the past and have found EasyBib to be, by far, the easiest and most user friendly for students and teachers in all departments.” — **Anne Abney, Media Specialist at Creekview High School in Canton, GA**
3. “Research is painful for middle schoolers and I've seen too many kids get burned out. When I taught my first class of seventh graders how to set up an Easybib account, I saw the light bulbs go on.” — **Jen Wodlinger, Former Librarian at Redlands Middle School in Grand Junction, CO**

## Sample

Here is a tutorial showing you how to access the notebook feature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL5cM6XMvJ8

Here is a small tutorial showing you how to access Easy Bib.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wYEZ6rqnSw

Here is our student sample:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17f3\_bSkrSZqzkHSliUKEuoMTVZM\_Jgh74ZwGFOECpsU/edit?usp=sharing

## Sources

http://www.easybib.com/company/testimonials (Testimonials)

https://pando.com/2012/09/27/abandoned-for-years-web-2-0-tool-easybib-is-now-a-thriving-business/ (Background Info)

https://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/10/11/easybibs-new-browser-extension-tells-students-how-credible-sites-are-and-auto-generates-citations/ (More on Background Info and who it is meant for)

http://www.easybib.com/guides/students/writing-guide/ii-research/a-finding-sources/

http://www.easybib.com/company

http://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-format/

https://edtechdigest.com/2012/01/17/cool-tool-easybib-for-students-and-teachers/