Referencing@Portsmouth: a web-based, interactive referencing tool

Authors

  • Roisin Gwyer University of Portsmouth
  • Linda Jones University of Portsmouth
  • James Stewart Matthews University of Portsmouth
  • Anne Worden University of Portsmouth

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.v0i2.31

Keywords:

Academic referencing, APA style, Vancouver style, OSCOLA style, plagiarism

Abstract

This case study describes a project at the University of Portsmouth library to create a sustainable web-based tool to help undergraduate students with the thorny issue of academic referencing of their sources for written work, using a hierarchical selection tool, backed up by an optional search facility. It is intended to encourage them to think analytically about their sources. The selection tool needed to be user-friendly and easy to manage by librarians who are not also web designers. The project went live with APA style referencing and has been expanded to cover OSCOLA (law) referencing, with Vancouver style in the pipeline.. Although intended for Portsmouth students, among whom its use is growing rapidly, others have linked to it, including the Intute website.

This case study describes a project at the University of Portsmouth library to create a sustainable web-based tool to help undergraduate students with the thorny issue of academic referencing of their sources for written work, using a hierarchical selection tool, backed up by an optional search facility. It is intended to encourage them to think analytically about their sources. The selection tool needed to be user-friendly and easy to manage by librarians who are not also web designers. The project went live with APA style referencing and has been expanded to cover OSCOLA (law) referencing, with Vancouver style in the pipeline.. Although intended for Portsmouth students, among whom its use is growing rapidly, others have linked to it, including the Intute website.

Author Biographies

Roisin Gwyer, University of Portsmouth

Associate University Librarian,

University Library, University of Portsmouth

Linda Jones, University of Portsmouth

Faculty Librarian, Law and Criminology,

University Library, University of Portsmouth

James Stewart Matthews, University of Portsmouth

Floor Manager, Social Sciences

University Library, University of Portsmouth

Anne Worden, University of Portsmouth

Faculty Librarian, Humanities and Social Sciences,

University Library, University of Portsmouth

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Published

20-03-2010

How to Cite

Gwyer, R. (2010) “Referencing@Portsmouth: a web-based, interactive referencing tool”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (2). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.v0i2.31.

Issue

No. 2 (2010)

Section

Case Studies

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