Google Scholar is a popular way to search for scholarly articles, reports, books and more. You can connect Google Scholar to IIT's libraries from the Library links section of Scholar Settings. This way, when you find an article you'd like to read you will be able to see if we have the article or be directed to MyILL to request it.
To get your sources together before writing, we recommend using the citation management software Zotero. It's very easy to use, it;s fast and free, and Zotero for Firefox does not require local admin privileges to install. You can install it on the library's computers, but it will be deleted when you log off. Zotero Standalone is available for Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux. Zotero Standalone has plug-ins available for Chrome & Safari. Plug-ins available for You can set up an account for online syncing, and it has an add-in for Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.
You should be aware that Zotero is browser specific: works with Chrome FireFox and Safari, but not Internet Explorer. Syncing is not the same as backing up your data. Zotero recommends that if you are working on a large document, you back up your library file manually. Zotero Standalone requires local admin rights on your computer to install, so you will not be able to install it on lab or library computers.Online sync is view-only, no editing.Only a few citation formats are supported, but they are the most common ones (for example, ACS is not supported).
