Warp Speed Your
Research Writing
Using Word 2007
Dr. Miriam Helen Hill, Professor
Physical and Earth Sciences, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL
October 21, 2008
Word 2007 is
dramatically different
from previous versions
of Microsoft Word.
The design uses what is now called
ribbons, and these ribbons present a
complete reorganization and reworking
of the software.
The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate
the added functionality of Word 2007 and to
provide other suggestions that may ease and
speed research writing through the use of the
newly available technologies.
The focus will be the reference
ribbon of Word 2007, but brief
comments will be made about
Google Scholar.
The methods of undertaking literature searches has
changed drastically in the past several decades.
The new tools
within Word
2007, though,
have recently
totally renovated
the
documentation
process.
The primary focus will be
the reference ribbon of
Word 2007.
In particular, we will examine the
Citation and Bibliography area.
Footnotes are used to add information
rather than to provide references.
The first item to
note is the Style.
The drop down allows
you to set what style
format to use in the
document.
Once a document is typed, it is this
easy to change it from one format to
another.
APA
Turabian
MLA
So, reformatting a
paper for a different
journal is simplified.
The next advance in writing is found
with Manage Sources.
The description is misleading.
It is used to
view the list of
all the sources
TYPED into this
COMPUTER
SYSTEM!
The Source Manager stores all references entered.
You need not input that data for the next paper!
We’ll discuss more about this later.
First, we need to enter
some data.
In a paper, when a
citation is needed, the
first step is to go to the
reference ribbon and
click the Insert Citation
Option.
Three choices are
available.
Add New Source
lets you input data.
If you want to come back and do this later, add New
Placeholder is available.
Search Libraries leads to the encyclopedia, dictionary,
and other subscription sources that can be set.
Add New
Source opens
the Create
Source Dialog
box into which
you enter the
citation
information.
17 options are
available in
the drop down
for Type of
Source.
Choose the
most
appropriate
option.
For book, author, title, year, city, and publisher are the
standard required inputs.
Author can be either people or a corporate author.
Typing format is last name, comma, rest of name,
semicolon, last name, comma, rest of name, etc.
The full name information should be entered, because
different styles require it.
Problem: To handle two worded last names such
as Alexander von Humboldt the author must be
entered through the edit button to the right.
This enables the parts of
the name to be identified.
So von Humboldt can be
entered as the last name
and first and middle name
pieces may be clarified.
When additional information is needed, such as state
or edition, the Show All Bibliography Fields option will
expand the form with the required fields marked by a
red asterisk.
Book Section is used for a chapter in a book.
One drawback is the requirement to re-enter the book
information for each chapter used.
You can use Notepad to type that and copy and paste.
Journal article must be expanded.
I have not found a way to default to full expansion.
Volume and
Issue are
usually
required
information
for academic
sources, but
this is not
marked.
The Standard Number can be used for the ISSN.
No journal on-line option exists, so I have typed that
after the page information.
I have found no way to print the comments beyond VBA.
Article in a Periodical has identical input compared to
Journal Article except for the option to include the
Edition. Bibliography formats must differ.
Conference Proceedings adds Conference
Publication Name to the standard inputs.
The report option seems to miss a few possibly
useful fields, such as month and date, but it can
all be entered in the year box.
Web options are weak.
Web site is inconsistent on entry between styles.
Most, not all, ask for Name of Web Site that is
derived from the Window Title Bar. To change
forms, this should always be added.
The expanded form is often necessary.
Short titles, standard numbers, and comments are
additional elective entries.
The second web option is “Document From Web
site.” The unexpanded form is similar to the
previous form.
The expanded form is, also, the same, but the
printed format may differ between styles.
The Electronic Source form may be the weakest.
Other inputs for Electronic Source may include
Volume, Year, Month, Day, Short Title, Standard
Number, and Comments.
These three forms fail to cover the diversity of
web materials.
Art citations differ as would be anticipated.
Entries for sound recordings include Recording
Number, Short Title, Standard Number, and
Comments.
Performance
is another
category with
more
distinctive
inputs.
When expanded, these include Producer Name,
Production Company, Director, Short Title, Standard
Number, and Comments.
Another source
type is Films.
The expanded form includes Short Title, Standard
Number, and Comments, also.
The Interview form is deficient, because it
anticipates only published media rather than
personal researcher interviews.
Other inputs include State/Province, Country/Region,
Editor, Translator, Compiler, Pages, Short Title,
Standard Number, and Comments.
Another source type is Patent.
The Case source type is especially important for legal
writing.
Abbreviated Case Number, Short Title, and Comments
are expanded input options.
Miscellaneous
covers
additional
source types.
Further inputs include Publisher, Editor, Pages,
Volume, Edition, Issue, Translator, Compiler, Short
Title, Standard Number, and Comments
If an error is
found after
entering the
source
information,
clicking the
drop down
arrow and
choosing Edit
Source will
reopen the
dialog box for
changes.
To enter the page
reference, click the drop
down arrow, and choose
edit citation!
If you have used the
reference BEFORE in
this document, it will be
shown in the citation
listing. Click the Insert
Citation icon, then find
the listing.
Click it, and the
reference will be added
into the text.
Then just complete
the input by adding
the page number if
appropriate.
If you have used the source in a previous
document typed on this computer, the input is
retained by the Source Manager.
To open the Source Manager, click
Manage Sources.
The Source Manager enables search by
Author, Tag, Title, and Year.
Type into the search box, and the entries from the
Master List will be displayed, with one entry
Previewed at the bottom.
For example, here the search for Fink shows
five works have been entered, and one has
already been used in the current document.
Other master lists can be accessed by the
Browse button.
The source file by default is located in
c:\Documents and
Settings\<user>\Application
Data\Microsoft\Bibliography\sources.xml
I recommend that this file should be backed up and archived to
another system periodically. I’d hate to lose all of this data entry!
When the paper is finished, clicking
Bibliography will begin the production of
the list of resources used in the
document.
Two formats are indicated, Bibliography
and Works Cited.
Clicking Bibliography will add the
formatted bibliography to the end of the
document.
Current paragraph formats may dominate.
If the heading is not desired, the Insert
Bibliography option will add the
bibliography to the document.
If changes are made after the listing is
appended, click the Update Citations and
Bibliography and all corrections will be
made throughout the entire paper!
Changes are not retained until the paper
is saved, including the Source Manager.
These capabilities facilitate note taking.
Instead of doing note cards, I recommend maintaining
a note document. Use a subject, quote, and the
bibliographic entrance for each piece of data as
ONE PARAGRAPH.
When the notes
have been
completed,
alphabetize the
list by using the
sort capability of
Word 2007.
From the Home
menu, choose
the alphabetize
option.
This will group the similar subjects for
sorting and organizing the paper.
After organizing the notes, quotes can be
lifted from the note document into the
paper, and the reference chosen through
the Word 2007 functionality.
I highlight the note document showing the
materials already used in the paper.
Another research tool advance is
from Google, www.google.com.
Under the more drop down choose
Scholar to access Google Scholar.
The search engine has collected links to
scholarly works.
So, a search for a researcher will produce
links and references for the author.
Traditionally,
researchers use the
references from
relevant work to
locate additional
source materials.
In this manner, we
trace the research
back through time.
Finding more recent
work was a huge
challenge.
Now, Google Scholar provides a Cited by
link.
This provides links to research that includes
this work in their bibliographies!
Thus, this brings the themes forward in time.
Excellent
scholarship
has never
before
been this
easy!