Develop a Resource Management System

Questions and Strategies for Critically Reading Research Articles 

Purpose of the article: What is the objective of the article and why was it written?

Type of article: For university-level research works, information must be retrieved mainly from scholarly journals. Scholarly journals comprise articles which describe high quality research which has been reviewed by professionals in the field before being published. So, the question here would be; what type of article is it?

Content and Organization: What is the content of the article and how is the information organized and presented?

Date Published: Is the article updated, outdated or timeless?

Bibliography: What types of references are cited in the article? Are they scholarly?

Usefulness: How relevant is the article to my present research topic and task?

The Two Potential Topics 

Teaching and learning about masculinity in an age of change

What is the gender dominant paradigm?

Evaluation of the Resource Management Systems 

Researchers, authors, academics and students conduct much of their research online. With multiple different databases, websites and online journals, it may be significantly overwhelming to manage the resources and keep them organized – particularly when doing it manually. However, there are programs which could actually managed and keep track of the references. Different reference management systems exist which may make the process of managing references nearly effortless. Essentially, reference management systems aid researchers in creating and managing their reference lists for research projects. Many tools are designed for organizing citations into particular formats for preparation of bibliographies and manuscripts. Most search tools offer methods of downloading references into reference management programs. Some of the best reference management systems are discussed below.

Zotero 

Zotero is a free and open source software, meaning that one does not have to pay for it and that the program’s design is publicly accessible. The system is an excellent choice as a reference manager, particularly for students, since it runs as both an offline service and a web service on personal devices like PCs, iPad, laptop and mobile phones. The system both stores and formats the bibliographic information and as well enables one to organize, tag, and search the information. It seamlessly and automatically extracts information from journal articles, books, websites and different online sources, thus making the whole process of generating a reference list easy.

RefWorks 

It is a unique reference management system. While one has to pay some fee to use it, many universities and colleges have subscriptions to this software program. Thus, many students can access it through their school. The program is great because it enables uses to create and format manuscripts and bibliographies in multiple output styles such as the most common: MLA, APA, Turabian, Vancouver and Chicago. Besides, by using this reference manager users can manage more than just bibliographic information, making it good for researchers and academics alike.

EndNote 

This reference manager is great while work together on a study work. It permits the researchers to share with up to fourteen associates across the realm. Thus, it is definitely the best option for collaborations. One of the benefits of this reference manager is that it comprises reference forms like interviews, press releases, conference papers and podcasts. Further, it enables the use to add citations to MS PowerPoint Slides, and this is particularly amazing if one is making presentation with a team. It comprises a large catalogue of format choices with more than 6,000 reference styles, thus irrespective of one’s discipline; one can always find one which suits their needs. Even though it is not free, its quality is super high, and thus it is worth paying the fee to access it.

Mendeley 

Mendeley is a great reference manager for those in a scientific or technical field. The reference management software enables users to create citations as well as bibliographies in MS Word, LaTex, and LibreOffice. Similar to EndNote, Mendeley is excellent for collaborations, since it facilitates the users to link with colleagues and share their notes, annotations and papers. It may be used on the computer through the web or via an iPad or iPhone, making it easy to do the research work at anywhere.

CiteULike 

This reference manager is great as it works from within the user’s web browser, meaning that one does not have to install software, and one can access their library from any computer connected to the internet. Similar with other reference management systems, it automatically extracts the citation information and thus the user does not have to type them.

Papers 

It is reference management software for Windows and Mac OS X. It is used for managing references and bibliographies when writing article and essays. It is mainly used for organizing references and maintaining a library of PDF document. Also, it offers a uniform interface for metadata editing, document repository searches, full screen reading and a range of methods for importing and exporting documents. It helps the researchers in collecting and curating their research materials. It has a huge number of citation styles. However, one needs to buy the software to use it, and it is incompatible with Linux.

For my dissertation, I will use Mendeley. Mendeley is free and it would help me in organizing my research and collaborating with other students online, whenever I need help or I have questions regarding my research project. Besides, Mendeley will enable me to automatically generate bibliographies, collaborate easily with other students online, easily import sources and articles based on my research topic, and find relevant sources and articles based on my topic, and access articles from anywhere online. Also, by using the reference manager, I will be able to compile my bibliography, organize my references, and cite and write my research paper. One of the key insights of Mendeley is that it is free, and I can access it from anywhere in my PC or iPad.

Reference Tables 

Table 1 

Topic 1: Teaching and Learning about Masculinity in an Age of Change  Literature Review STUDY SUMMARIES
Author/ Title	Purpose	Framework	Sample/ Participants	Design	Variables & instruments	Results & Conclusions	Controversies, Disagreements with other authors	Limitations	Implications for practice, research, theory
Boys to Men: Teaching and Learning About Masculinity in an Age of Change	The article discusses the topic of masculinity in both boys and men and what it means to be a man, by deconstructing different definitions of masculinity and exploring what it means to be a man in the society.	The structured in a way that different articles are discussed and questions posed for the discussions.	Students and Teachers.	The article reviews differed articles on the topic of masculinity.	Variables include gender and masculinity.	The article explores how students can investigate how messages regarding masculinity are evident in our culture. The author requires the students to do a project about how to define masculinity and reflect on their learning to show their understanding of masculinity.	There are no controversies with other authors.	I do not find any limitations for this article.	The implications of this article for practice research and theory is that masculinity can be defined in different ways, and masculinity is manifest in various forms.
Effective Literature Searching	It discusses the shifting nature of information literacy, basic searching skills and strategies, tools for locating literature, and gives advice on monitoring literature and keeping updated.	The chapter provides a comprehensive discussion of how students can effectively conduct literature searching.	Students	The chapter is descriptive in nature, explaining the differed strategies and skills students could use when conducting their searches.	Searching tools	The chapter concludes by pointing out that reference librarian is the most crucial literature searching tool, and thus students must know their librarian.	I do not find any controversies with other authors in the article.	The topic does not discuss the various types of reference management systems which students can use in their research, as it is only limited to searching strategies and skills.	By applying the literature searching strategies and skills discussed in this chapter, students will be able to effectively search and organizes their literature.

Table 2

Topic 1: What is the Gender Dominant Paradigm?  Literature Review STUDY SUMMARIES
Author/ Title	Purpose	Framework	Sample/ Participants	Design	Variables & instruments	Results & Conclusions	Controversies, Disagreements with other authors	Limitations	Implications for practice, research, theory
Integrating Writing: Assessing Sources/Writing a Literature Review	The purpose of the article is to advice students on how to locate their own arguments by spending time organizing, assessing and unpacking their sources.	For the students to attain the type of familiarity with their sources which is required for integrating them into their own arguments, they should assess sources, create a matrix, or write a literature review.	Students	The article is descriptive in nature.	Evaluation of resources and writing of literature review.	It is important for the researchers to first evaluate the sources, create a matrix for understanding the sources and write a literature review of each of the article, to incorporate them in their research.	I do not find any controversies with other authors.	No limitations.	The implications for practice and research are that before using any sources, students should evaluate the sources to know their argument, and relevancy to the research topic.
Podcast #326: Why Boys Are Struggling & What We Can Do To Help Them	The article discusses the reasons behind boys’ struggle and what can be done to help them.	The article presents a podcast whereby an expert in childhood development is the guest.	Teachers, therapists and boys	The article is descriptive in nature.	The variables discussed regarding the struggle of boys are health, and academics.	The podcast touches about the issues which boys encounter, and also offers concrete measures which parents and teachers could adopt to help boys.	I do not find any controversies.	I do not find any limitations from the podcast.	It is important for both parents and teachers to find the problems which boys are facing and the reasons behind their struggles, and the come up with solutions to solve these problems.

References

Brett. (2017, August 1). Podcast #326: Why Boys Are Struggling & What We Can Do To Help Them. http://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/podcast-326-raise-boys/

Gilpin, C. C., and Proulx, N. (2018, April 12). Boys to Men: Teaching and Learning About Masculinity in an Age of Change. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/learning/lessonplans/boys-to-men-teaching-and- learning-about-masculinity-in-an-age-of-change.html

Literature Review 101. https://guides.library.vcu.edu/lit-review

Phelps, R. Fisher, K., & Ellis, A. (2007). Organizing and managing your research. London: Sage.https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ncent-ebooks/detail.action?docID=354865

University of Washington. (n.d.). Integrating writing: Assessing sources/writing a literature review. https://www.uwb.edu/wacc/teaching/writing/reviews