Managing references with Citavi
The library of OTH Regensburg has acquired a campus licence for the Citavi reference management and knowledge organisation system. OTH Regensburg staff and students can now use this powerful programme for studying, teaching and research both at the workplace and at home. Citavi supports students and researchers in all steps and aspects of their work with scientific references. It begins when you start searching for sources. Citavi opens the doors to over 4000 library catalogues (including our OPAC) and specialist bibliographies whose data can be saved for further processing with the click of a mouse. You don’t even need to type out the titles of books stacking up on your desk. Provided the books have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) – and all books since 1980 have one – this number is all Citavi needs to download all the information you want from the web: the work’s author, title, publisher, year and in many cases the cover graphics and a synopsis too.
Turning data into knowledge
Citavi starts by imposing order on your collection of sources. Not every text has to receive immediate and equal attention. You can use the Citavi Task Planner to decide what needs to be done with every article or book, and by when. At the touch of button, Task Planner will produce a task list for your next library visit.
What matters however is what you do with the information you have gathered. In Citavi this is known as “knowledge organising”: The essential must be separated from the nonessential and meshed with your existing knowledge base. Citavi provides a number of tools for this purpose, allowing references to be easily keyworded and categorised. The most important passages can be taken from each text, systematically organised and linked to your own ideas, thoughts and first written drafts, so progressively expanding a knowledge base that is tailored to your ultimate goal.
Getting the knowledge down on paper
A report, examination paper or publication is the final step in this process. Citavi works with almost all word processors, including LaTeX editors. Your collected quotations, thoughts and source references are pulled into the text at the click of a mouse. And finally, Citavi will automatically generate your list of references.
How do I get Citavi?
1. Install Citavi Free
Download the free version "Citavi Free" here:
http://www.citavi.com/en/download.html
2. Get campus license
Under Site Licenses click the OTH Regensburg. The list is sorted by location. Then log in with your OTH ID and you can use the campus license. You can now save unlimited titles in your projects.
Support:
Managing references with Zotero
Zotero is a literature management software for macOS, Linux and Windows, as well as apps for iOS and Android.
- Import data from books, websites, and essays into Zotero
- Ingest and manage PDFs (e.g. eBooks or scientific essays)
- Keyword references and organize them in folders
- Choose from over 10,000 citation styles
- Insert references in Word or Libre Office, create bibliography
- Also collect literature on iPad or Android tablet with bookmarklet, apps or via website
Our library offers courses on Zotero. In about 90 minutes, they will learn everything important about getting started with literature management with Zotero. Dates and registration via WebUntis.
Important course preparation information can be found here.
What do you need to work with Zotero?
Zotero 5.0 and the Zotero Connector for your browser