NoodleTools

Projects can be used to gather all the sources you will use for a specific assignment, generate citations (in-text and reference list, works cited list, or bibliography), create an outline, and compile notes and attachments.

New Projects 

1. To start, click “New Project.” 

2. Name your project. 

   • Suggestion: use the course name/number and assignment in the title. For example: “ENG 1010 Rhetorical Essay“ or “FYS 1010 Research Paper” 

3. Choose a citation style (APA, MLA, or Chicago) and level (advanced). 

   • Check the assignment description or ask your instructor which citation style you need to use.

4. Click “submit” to create the project, which should now show up in your project list. 

Working on Projects 

From the “My Projects” tab, click on the project title of the project you want to work on. Here are a few things you can do in the “Sources” section of your project: 

• Research question / Thesis statement - Add  the main topic and claim, question, thesis or hypothesis of your paper. 

  • Need help? Check out our “Research Help” guide for tips on selecting a topic and forming a research question! 

• New Source - Add sources to your list. This will bring up a box that walks you through several questions (Where did you find the source? What type of source is it?) and give you a form to fill out with information such as authors, titles, URLs, or other requirements for that type of source. 

• Source Options - Click the icon with three vertical dots to the right of the source to: 

  • Edit the source information 

  • Copy the source to another project (or generate a quick citation) 

  • Add attachments (such as a PDF copy of an article) 

  • Delete a source 

  • Generate an in-text citation 

• Tags - Add tags to indicate primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. You can also use colored tags to organize your sources. 

• Notecards - Add notecards to a source for any direct quotes, paraphrasing, or other notes. Click on the number under the “notecards” column to quickly view your notecards for that source. 

• Attachments - Click the paperclip to see any files you attached to that source (such as full text PDFs). 

• Analysis - Click on the bar graph icon at the top to see a breakdown of your project, including style (APA, MLA, or Chicago), total number of citations and notecards,, notecard content (quotations, paraphrasing, and “my ideas”), medium (shows you the numbers for how many sources you have that are print vs. online), type (shows you the numbers of how many sources you have by type such as periodicals, websites, etc.), and currency (shows when your sources were published, so you can see how current your information is) 

• Print/Export - Click the printer icon to print/export your source list to Word, Google Docs, or other formats. 

• Email - Click the icon with three vertical dots at the top of the page to email your source list. 

• Select - Click the check box to the left of each source to select those citations for copying or deleting. 

• Search - Search through the sources to select multiple that fit your criteria (keyword, title, URL, name, or type). 

• Sort - Sort your sources by alphabetical order, currency (how recently each source was published), media type, or tags (primary/secondary or colors) 

Using Attachments 

Attachments allow you to add files (such as full text PDFs of sources) to your project in NoodleTools. 

• Attach files to any source in your list by clicking on the icon with three vertical dots next to a source then clicking “add attachment” and uploading the file. 

• Click the paperclip icon to see any attachments you have added for that source. 

• View all attachments in your project by clicking on the “Attachments” tab in the left column. 

• Add attachments to the project (not a specific source) from the Attachments tab by clicking “New File”. 

  • Suggestion: Add the assignment description, grading rubric, and any other general notes relevant to your project!