BY TIERNEY HAUPT AND MIGUEL VAZQUEZ

Analysis of Citation Services at CSULA

Purpose of the Study

• RefWorks is expensive.o Can RefWorks be replaced with a less expensive

alternative? o What features are students using?o How useful do students feel the software is and what do

they think about it's accuracy?o Are students using RefWorks as a crutch?

• To find these answers a survey was constructed  

The Survey

• Survey implemented through Survey Monkeyo Link to survey distributed through email to library staff

• Total of 12 questions including 3 APA evaluation questions• Small sample size of 39

 

• RefWorks Subscription: $16,000 per year

• Zotero: Free!

20,142 potential users

$0.79 each

4,331 actual RefWorks users over past year

$3.69 each

Cost Analysis

Tools Used for Citation Management

• The Usage of Tools (Q2)• The Usage of Citation Management Software (Q3)

Bibliographic Software Features

•  Collecting citations and creating bibliographies  

RefWorks Plug-ins

• Write-N-Cite and RefGrab-Ito 21 of 39 respondents said they use RefWorks o  95.2% (20) don't use either plug-ino 19% (4) said they use Write-N-Citeo 4.8% (1) said they use RefGrab-It 

•  Confusion with survey question 

Student Satisfaction

• 71% of RefWorks users find it very useful or useful

Citation Errors

• Questions 9, 10, and 11 tested respondents ability to correctly identify problems in citations formatted in APA.o 12.8% (5 of 39) correctly answered all three questions.o 15.4% (6 of 39) were unable to answer any questions correctly.

• Overall Trend shows that those who understand APA mechanics are less satisfied with RefWorks

Write-in Opinions

• Mostly positive reviews:             

"useful"               

"informative and helpful"

• Suggestions:             

"cater to specific majors/courses"

Recommendations

•  Consider a switcho Key features

citation collection bibliographic creation 

o Cost  • Educate Students

o  Advantages of Service publicity instruction

o  Limitations of Service