ULibraries Research Guides: Main Guide: NoodleTools

Welcome to the NoodleTools "How-to" Guide!

This Guide will help you create and utilize the research project management web application called NoodleTools. In short, NoodleTools will help you create and produce a perfectly stylized bibliography for each research paper or project that you must develop for any of your classes that require APA, MLA or Chicago/Turabian style as a standard for documentation (i.e., your citations).

NoodleTools is a web application that helps students with all aspects of research project management: APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian documentation; annotated bibliographies; notecards; resource analysis; etc. This is a self-guided tool that teaches undergraduates how to properly document resources, as well as gives them a framework for organization during the research process.

NOTE: You must create your own “Personal ID” and password to begin using NoodleTools.

NOTE 2: The NoodleTools interface has changed! ANY bibliographies created in the former interface will remain in that interface and new bibliographies will be created using the new interface.

NoodleTools Features & Advantages

Teaching tool

Teaches evaluation and analysis; not simply a "machine" that automates the process.
Extensive help for each citation element at the point of need.
Guides learner through difficult decisions about the source material.
Fast, personal responses to individual citation questions.
Generates parenthetical reference for each citation, with additional advanced help.
Checks for mistakes in punctuation, abbreviations, and more.

Promotes ethical research

Ease of use and expert advice gives students confidence to cite even the trickiest sources.
Online notecards capture author's words, images, graphs, and original formatting.
Software guides student through paraphrasing and prompts for original thinking.
Built-in editor enables annotation of notes, improving comprehension, analysis and reflection.
Notecards linked to citations to ensure proper attribution.

Assessment for learning

Students share working bibliographies and notecards with teachers for feedback.
While viewing a student's citation form, teacher can insert comments and ask questions.
Statistical graphs analyze quantity, variety and currency of sources.

Convenient and up-to-date

Web-based, saved work can be accessed from any computer, no software to install.
Bibliographies and notecards can be exported directly to Word.
Prompt software changes to conform to current MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian rules.

(NoodleTools. (n.d.). Software tools: NoodleBib. Retrieved September 4, 2010,
from http://www.noodletools.com/tools/index.php)