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Online Lessons from EasyBib Teach Students Research Writing Skills

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 02/19/13

A company that offers free and low-cost versions of bibliography and citation generation software has launched a Web-based service for teaching students how to research and write research papers. EasyBib's ResearchReady provides multimedia lessons and interactive questions that can be used in self-study or as part of a classroom curriculum.

Intended for high school students and first- and second-year college students, the service covers the research process, including development of a topic, finding and evaluating sources, organizing notes, and avoiding plagiarism.

The curriculum includes lessons and assessment questions and can be customized by the instructor.

"EasyBib.com, our flagship product, is used by over 40 million students yearly to cite and organize research," said Emily Gover, former academic librarian at Berry College, and now in-house librarian at EasyBib. "When we took a careful look at our user behavior and citation data, we realized students needed more. Many of them needed to learn fundamental research skills! A recent study found that, for instance, over a fourth of students did not understand the need to cite a source when paraphrasing or summarizing information. That's why we created ResearchReady: to provide a way to teach those skills, which are so essential to critical thinking and citizenship in today's world."

Pricing for the new service is based on class and school size.