If you've ever asked yourself "where did I find this again?" when conducting research (especially online), you may want to consider using a tool for managing your research. Information management tools help you keep track of your sources in one location and are immensely helpful when it comes time to write your bibliography.
Below are some suggestions for tools you can use in your research. If you do not feel like using one of them, you can always keep track of your sources for an assignment by opening a Google doc or Word doc and dropping citations in it.
If you want to copy the link to a resource in the library catalog or a database to another document, DO NOT COPY THE BROWSER URL. This URL times out eventually. Instead, look for the resource's permalink, permanent link, or permanent URL.
Click on the 'Permalink to this record' link and wait for the page to reload. Then, copy the updated URL in the browser search bar and paste it into your document.
RISD subscribes to a number of databases that will help you with your research. For a full list, visit our Databases A-Z page, which is also available on the Fleet Library home page.
Most databases offer citation tools in article or image records.
For instance, here is how to generate a citation from an EBSCO database like Literary Reference Center:
Here is how to generate a citation from a record in a ProQuest database like Vogue Archive:
Search Alerts
Fleet Search, which includes all EBSCO databases, and our ProQuest databases allow you to set search alerts for search queries. Use this feature to automatically receive weekly, monthly or yearly alerts on your research interests. It is a helpful tool if you are doing long-term research on a topic. You should register for an EBSCO or ProQuest account before setting up a search alert.
Here is where to set up a search alert in a ProQuest database like Vogue Archive:
Here is how to set up a search alert in Fleet Search or an EBSCO database: