Harvard Citation Wizard Updated

The last of our Citation Wizards is now updated to our new look and feel. Harvard Style may be used more outside the US, but a large number of visitors are from overseas (Australia is second only to our US traffic).

Three formats are available:

• Webpage (Website)
• Online Journal
• Online Book

If you would like other Harvard style formats, let us know.

In all, we offer up-to-date bibliographic citation for these styles:

• MLA
• APA
• CSE
• Chicago
• Harvard

Avoid Plagiarism. Cite the information you use.

Keyword Search Strategy

No one has come forward with the solution to the Search Challenge posted two days ago.

Admittedly, this is not an easy challenge; probably a Level 6 or 7. To make headway requires search strategies and persistence.

Without giving too much away, here's a strategy that will work:

1. Describe what you see. A close look reveals abbreviated terms such as libre, janit, admin, playg, pk, etc. Taken together, these point to a bigger concept. There's a keyword for that (school). There's also a better word for what the image represents (I'll leave that to you).
2. Other keywords may be derived from the image, e.g., shapes. Most of the elements appear to be some type of hexagons. There's a better keyword than that, but you may not be able to think of it immediately.
3. Test queries. Use the words that you have to look for better keywords. Finding better keywords is a key to this challenge.
4. Know where to look. This is also a key to the challenge. What search engine can you use to locate similar pictures?
5. Keep in mind what you are looking for. Don't expect an answer to be obvious. Look for words and images that share features with the picture. 
6. Use the information you find in new searches to get ever closer.
7. Be persistent. The only way to guarantee you won't find it is to give up. Study snippets and images beyond the first page of results.

Keyword Search Challenge

Looking for a challenge to keep your search skills sharp? Identify the author of the image below:

Send your solution to wizard@21cif.com

Updated CSE Citation Wizards

The make-overs continue: CSE Wizards are now fit for service.

CSE is actually the most popular of our Wizards. Citation-Subject, Citation-Name, Name-Year formats are available for:

Webpage
Online Journal
Online Book

In completing the upgrade, we discovered a few bugs (hyperlinks that didn't go where they should and a copy the citation function that failed). For that we apologize and are happy to say all's now been fixed.

If formats would be helpful other than the six we already offer, please let us know.

Try it out: https://21cif.com/tools/cite/cse/

For kicks: complete a C-N citation for this article: http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/11/549/eaav1646

Compare your experience to another CSE Citation Machine

Refreshed APA Citation Wizard

Our APA Citation Wizard has just been updated and improved.  See:

https://21cif.com/tools/cite/apa/

Three different types of digital information formatting are available:

1. Webpage (articles, etc.)
2. Online Journal
3. Online Book

Multiple options for each (missing information, citing a chapter instead of a book, citing a database, etc.) are programmed into the Wizard.

If you would like formatting other than the three choices listed, please let us know.

MLA Citation Wizard

Looking for an easy way to create MLA 8th ed. citations? Give our refreshed Citation Wizard a try.

https://21cif.com/tools/cite/mla/index.html


The Wizard provides these formats:

Website
Webpage
Online Journal
Online Book
Online Video or Audio
Print Journal
Print Book
Print Magazine

If there are other formats you need frequently, let us know!

Rosenstein on the "rule of law" and education

Rod Rosenstein
image source: Wikipedia

Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General, has been in the news a lot lately. Today he defends himself as a victim of false reporting in connection with a report that he proposed using a wire secretly to tape conversations with Donald Trump (in an effort to impeach him).

He adamantly denies the accusation.

Back in August, another statement--reported in Bloomberg's Big Law Business--has relevance for this unfolding story:

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein called on lawyers to “accept a personal duty to keep the republic by teaching” the principles of the rule of law, which he said was critical to American democracy. 

Upholding “the rule of law is not just about litigation in courtrooms,” Rosenstein said. “It is also about education in classrooms and living rooms.”

When anyone is a victim of (dis)information, what are they to do? I guess you do what Rosenstein did today: deny it publicly (he has no trouble being picked up by the press) and hope that lawyers come to your aid by upholding the rule of law, including innocent until proven guilty. Interesting that he calls on lawyers to do the teaching.

Not many lawyers may heed the call to stand before students to impress on them how the law should work, but it's an interesting idea. Imagine a class or library session on evaluation that involves a lawyer. With so many accusations in the news, both justified and unjustified, what is the right approach to take? Rosenstein touches on that in this statement from the same Bloomberg article:

“The term ‘rule of law’ describes the government’s obligation to follow neutral principles,” and “reserve judgment until we have heard from all parties and completed a fair process,” Rosenstein said. 

It requires that we “avoid confirmation bias and remain open to the possibility that the truth may not match our preconceptions,” he said.

In an age of disinformation, this is sage advice for students to practice. It doesn't require a lawyer to teach it--any teacher or adult should be able to make this claim. Investigative searching, to be fair, must do the same: withhold judgment until the facts are checked.

In Rosenstein's recent predicament, the facts may be hard to check, as it may come down to who heard him say what and in what context. What words were used and what did they mean? Until then, it's good not to jump to conclusions, otherwise confirmation bias can play havoc.