A few weeks ago in class, I recommended Zotero, a free tool for managing references and producing bibliographies. Yesterday, Inside Higher Ed published a detailed review of Zotero that will help you decide if it’s right for you. The best part about the review is that the author, Scott McLemee, is a self-proclaimed newbie with no particular technical expertise. He identifies the key strengths and weaknesses of Zotero and gives a good sense for how you would get started using it.

Whether it’s Zotero or something else, I encourage you to develop a system for managing references. It will save you time and headaches later on.