Web Widgets for Library Research

Posted December 11th, 2007 by rgkwml

Recent years have seen an explosion in web "widgets," including extensions and other add-ons for web browsers and other free downloadable mini-applications that help you work online more efficiently.

There are many widgets that can help you with online library research. What follows are just a few, categorized loosely by what they do.

NOTE: Some widgets were created by third parties and are not directly supported by RIT Libraries.

Web Resources

Search Widgets

	LibX RIT toolbar for Mozilla Firefox Built by LibX for RIT, this Firefox extension installs a toolbar that allows you to instantly seach the RIT Libraries Catalog, the Connect NY catalog, and Google Scholar.
	RIT Libraries Facebook application Connect to our library's resources through Facebook - don't forget to invite your friends to add it!
	Connect NY Facebook application Explore the resources of Connect NY's many libraries through Facebook
	IEEE Xplore toolbar A browser toolbar for Internet Explorer or Firefox - provides you with instant access to the IEEE Xplore digital library
	Knovel Search Widget Download this widget for instant access from your desktop to Knovel's broad collection of technical handbooks and manuals. Knovel also offeres a browser toolbar.
	Custom search engines for Mozilla Firefox Install a search engine in your Firefox browser that lets you search a specific library research database: ACM Digital Library search engine IEEE Xplore search engine Elsevier ScienceDirect search engine Knovel search engine RIT Libraries catalog

Organization Widgets

	Zotero Zotero is a Firefox extension that helps you collect, manage, and cite research sources you find online
	LibraryThing LibraryThing is a free online system that allows you to organize your personal collection of books in the style of a library catalog and network with other users who read the same books you read
	Connotea Connotea is a free online reference management system where you can save articles from online searches, share them with other colleagues who use Connotea, and organize them using descriptive tags you assign
	CiteULike CiteULike is a free online social scholarship site where you can save and tag online scholarly articles you read and share them with other colleagues who use CiteULike. CiteULike will link you to the full text of articles in many scholarly databases, some of which require subscription authentication.