Google Docs: Insert Citations and Bibliography

Google Docs keeps adding features that help students do more work inside of a safe Google environment instead of having to open new tabs and search the wild web. When I demo “beyond the basics” in Google Docs (or for a Google Level 1 training), teachers are always enamoured by the safer searching that their students can do using the “Explore Tool” without actually leaving the Google Environment.

If you haven’t used the “Explore” tool before, it is a safe and efficient way to search the web for information and images. The Explore tool is great for students because searches are from within a safe search environment and most images are labelled for reuse. With a quick click of the “quotation marks” beside an Explore Tool web summary, a footnote to the source will be added.

Under “Tools” in the tool bar, you can also add “Citations”. Like most other web-based citation creators, you fill in the blanks with the source information that you have and Google does the nit-picky formatting; you know, the item order, periods, commas and spacing that are so tedious in citing source. And… you can choose from MLA, APA and Chicago formatting. As you add more sources to the citations list, they are kept in alphabetical order.

Once you’ve collected all of your citations, there is a big blue “Insert Bibliography” button that will appear at the bottom of the Explore panel. Do note that the bibliography will insert – yes, in alphabetical order and with hanging indents! – but it will insert where ever your cursor is placed, so be sure to scroll to the bottom of your document before you press “Insert Bibliography”.

Teachers often struggle to remember all of the different parts to this work flow so you can watch they video below to check out the parts of the work flow that you need.

Click here to read more tips for your taking your Google Level 1 exam.