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Note taking, writing and referencing

Improve your writing, vocabulary and referencing with these helpful tools.

These tools and programmes can be found on all UAL computers.

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Note taking

OneNote

OneNote is part of Office 365 and provides a flexible digital notebook offering to-do lists, information clipping and a place to save audio notes. Notebooks are stored on the cloud and can be accessed from any device and as a free mobile app.

Sign in to Office 365 with your UAL credentials.

ClaroCapture

  • Copy text to a clipboard while you do your research.
  • Edit the text and export to Word or PowerPoint.
  • Copy text from web pages, Word documents, or any other document on your screen.

Mind mapping

Use mind mapping software to take notes in a visual, non-lineal way. Visit the Planning and organising page.

Writing and dictation

Read&Write Gold and ClaroRead Pro

Study Tools in Read&Write Gold and ClaroRead Pro help with:

  • word prediction: suggests words to you as you type
  • homophones: check words which sound the same
  • word choice: use the Dictionary to choose the right word.

Visit the Reading and Researching page.

Word prediction in Windows 10

Set up word prediction for NotePad, PowerPoint and Outlook to get word suggestions as you type.

  • In your PC settings, search typing.
  • In Hardware Keyboard, turn on show text suggestions as you type.
  • You can also turn on autocorrect.

Proofreading

Text-to-speech

The text is read back to you to help you concentrate on the meaning and structure of your writing.

Text focus

Check words and spelling by focusing on one line at a time. Available on:

  • ClaroRead Pro: Screen Ruler.
  • Immersive Reader: Line Focus.
  • Read&Write Gold: Screen Masking.

Check grammar and spelling automatically

  • Word: Editor
  • Read&Write Gold: Check It

Dictation

Use dictation to help with spelling and thinking while typing.

Referencing

Use reference management tools to:

  • save your references as you research and read
  • collect, organize, and manage your references
  • create a bibliography and reference list for your assignment
  • format your references in your preferred referencing style. Note: UAL uses Cite them right Harvard referencing style.

Zotero

Zotero is a free open-source referencing tool. Find help guides on iView Learning and visit the Referencing LibGuide for more information.

RefWorks

RefWorks is a web-based reference management tool and can be used to:

  • import your references into RefWorks from the Library Catalogue, databases, and web pages
  • use RefWorks Citation Manager with Word on Windows 10 (desktop app)
  • create references and bibliographies using the Harvard referencing style.