NoodleTools

What is NoodleTools?

NoodleTools is the citation generator used by Urbandale Middle & High School to assist students in creating and capturing citations used for research purposes. NoodleTools will format not only the citation but also the Works Cited page for students linking directly with their Google Drive.

Logging Into NoodleTools

On the right side of the screen locate the "Enter your Google or Office 365 email" box and enter your UCSD student email address then select the Sign in with Google button. Entering any information in the boxes to the left, will cause a login error. Please ensure you do not type anything into the boxes shown on the left.

Create a NoodleTools Project:

When beginning a new research project or assignment, students will start by creating a NoodleTools project. Follow the list of instructions below:

1. From the Projects Tab select the green + New project button (picture below)

2. Enter a Project Title (picture below)

3. Ensure MLA is selected for Citation style, unless otherwise instructed by your teacher (picture below)

4. Select Advanced for the Citation level (picture below)

5. Click the Submit button to finish creating the project. (picture below)

6. Screen will automatically reload to the Dashboard Tab for the new project.

Creating citations in NoodleTools:

To access, create, or edit citations for a project, users should go to the Sources Tab at the top of the screen. New citations can be generated using the green +New Source button in the top left portion of the screen.

It is important users select the correct citation type before beginning. Common forms of citations are depicted in light blue and peach in the left column. When users create a new project and select Advanced for citation level, it ensures they have access to all possible types of citations.

Quick Cite - Use this feature when a citation is provided by the source. Use the link Copy & Paste a citation to gather provided citations from databases and other sources which provide pre-made citations.

ALL Gale Databases will export the preferred citation into NoodleTools directly.

Creating a MLA Website Citation

Students are encouraged to fill out as much of the requested information as possible. Users will get helpful tips from NoodleTools after clicking into any of the boxes about what is required.

1. Click green +New Source button

2. Select Website for Where is it?

3. Select Web Page for What is it?

4. Copy & Paste URL for the website

5. Enter the date the website was created and the date you accessed the source

6. If an author is provided, enter the information in the Contributor section

7. Enter the Web page or document/article title (not the whole website title) Ex. "Stars are Awesome" page on the NASA website

8. Enter the name of the website (* = required)

9. Enter the publisher for the website, usually located near the copyright information at the bottom

10. Select the green Save button to complete the citation

Reflection

  • Why is it important to check the formatting of provided citations?
  • What other citation generators are students likely to use, if they do not use NoodleTools?

Please continue to the Extension section of this lesson.