Pimp My Browser: Next-Generation Information Literacy Demands Control of the Browser ASEE 2009 Conference Austin, TX June 15, 2009 Andrew Wohrley Engineering Librarian Auburn University Libraries wohrlaj@auburn.edu
What are add-ons? Extend browser capabilities Work in Firefox Firefox add-ons Open Source Customize features Permit synergies of add-ons Search in LibX Save in Zotero Option to translate page with Google Translate Create footnotes and bibliographies in Word documents using Zotero plug-in
LibX “Instant-on” library catalogs Open Source Accommodates most catalogs Can link to Google Scholar Supports complex Boolean searches
Google Translate Best free translation plug-in Supports most major languages Click on button for translations of pages Can add it to webpages for instant translations Beware: Translations are not perfect—just useful
Google Translate http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=en#
News Article Translations
Google Translates the article
Zotero Citation Management Supports different styles Instant footnotes Instant bibliographies Instant downloading of citation Instant downloading of articles Excellent documentation and tutorials
Advantages Disadvantages Pre-1.0 add-ons Usually free Zotero formatting: Will not reduce full caps Will not correct typos Google Translate not perfect He can become she Slang rarely translates LibX requires tech support Usually free Open Source Easily learned Few barriers to use
Follow-up Research Compare students who use add-ons against those who don’t What prevents students from using add-ons? What features do students want in add-ons?
Conclusion Browser customization enhances research Automates tedious parts of research Enforces style guides Saves exact citations automatically Can organize and save citations on own computer Students learning a foreign language can check work against Google Translate.
Bibliography LibX Google Translate Zotero Mozilla add-ons http://www.libx.org Google Translate http://translate.google.com/translate_tools?hl=en Zotero http://www.zotero.org Mozilla add-ons https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox