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Social Citations
What is it? 
Social Citations refers to websites that allows the users to store, sort, classify, share, and search through a collection of citations stored on the Internet.
Social Citations function much like Social Bookmarking. However, this software is aimed towards academics and allows the user to post a citation for an article found on the Internet. These citations can be organized into predefined categories or a new category defined by the user. This allows academics researching or interested in similar areas to connect and share resources.
Social Citations
What are the educational uses and benefits?
Communication
- Allows people with similar interests to create communities of users and thus influence resource tags.
- Allows instructors and students to access information in a particular framework or context to share with peers and colleagues.
- Saved articles can be accessed from any computer.
- Users can share their library with others, and find out who is reading the same papers. This can help users discover literature which is relevant to their field but may have been unknown to them.
Research
- Allows for the classification of information based on a person's perspective and based on organizational structures.
- Provides a constantly evolving list of resources.
- Allows users to share, store, and organize the academic papers they are reading.
- Most Social Citation sites will automatically extract citation details.
- Many Social Citation sites will allow users to export their library to either BibTeX or Endnote to aid in building a bibliography.
Social Citations
Can I see an example?
View a flash animation of how to use a social citation site.
View an example of a social citation collection.
Social Citations
How do I get started?
- Social Citation sites require that you have a username and password in order to save your citations and recommend resources to others.
- After you join a Social Citation service and obtain a username and password you will may have to download a browser extension. However, with many Social Citations it is possible to tag resources without an extension.
- To save a website resource for later use click on the icon that represents your Social Citation program. For example, the icon for CiteULike looks like this: (insert image of CiteULike icon)
- A window will pop up allowing you to put your resources in various tags, insert information about the resource, and send the resource to others.
- You can also save a citation by searching for an article URL. The Social Citation site will automatically compile the necessary citation components for referencing the citation.
- In order to send information to others they must be a part of your “network.” This can be done by inviting another user to join your network. Once they are a part of your network you can make recommendations to them.
- The Social Citation program will file your resource in accordance with the tags you selected. In order to retrieve the resource click on the tag under which it has been saved.
Social Citations
Where can I learn more?
- BibSonomy: A Social Bookmarking site that includes a platform for literature exchange.
- CiteULike: A Social Citation site that specializes in the cataloging of academic papers.
- Connotea: A Social Citation site that specializes in online reference management for researchers, clinicians, and scientists.
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