Bibliography management

Bibliographic software enables you to store and manage your references electronically and automatically generate bibliographies in a variety of styles. The Open University supports two bibliographic management packages:

• EndNote
• RefWorks

This page provides information about both applications and some other free software which has similar functionality. It also contains information about setting up Papers to access resources through the Open University subscriptions.

For more general guidance on referencing see How to Manage your References, How to Cite References or Citation guides.

EndNote

EndNote will enable you to:

• organise, store and manage your references
• create bibliographies automatically
• directly import references from databases (e.g Web of Science) and library catalogues

How do I get the software?

The software is available for on-campus users and those based at the OU regional centres through AACS (Academic and Administrative Computing Services). To access the software visit the Training and Desktop Support Team's elective software page.

OU students not based on campus who would still like to use EndNote are able to purchase it at a discount from Adept Scientific . Type Open into the box, choose The Open University and login using your OU computer username and password.

How do I find out how EndNote works?

1. View the online tutorials or attend a Webinar, provided by EndNote.
2. For advice on how to use EndNote in conjunction with Library databases visit the Connections & Filters page
3. The latest manual is available as a PDF file.
4. Staff and research students can attend the Introduction to EndNote training session at Walton Hall

RefWorks

RefWorks is a web-based bibliography manager that allows you to

• import references from text files or online databases
• automatically add references to webpages using the RefGrab-It tool
• create a bibliography automatically

You can also use RefWorks to store files within a reference (up to 5mb each, with a 100mb limit per user).

How do I access it?

Access is via the RefWorks web site . When you first use RefWorks you will need to register. First, log in using your OU computer username and password. Then fill in your registration details as follows:

1. Your name
2. Your email address
3. Select your user type (e.g. undergraduate)
4. Select your focus area (e.g. humanities)
5. Select ‘register’ to finish

You will then receive an automated email from RefWorks.

How do I find out how RefWorks works?

1. Download the RefWorks Quick Start Guide , provided by Refworks.
2. For advice using RefWorks in conjunction with Library databases (e.g. Web of Science), visit the RefWorks: Importing data from specific databases page.
3. For further information on importing data, and citation styles, go to the RefWorks Help Topics page ,

How can I access my references after I've finished my course?

When you finish your course access to all electronic library resources, including RefWorks, will be withdrawn due to licence agreements with suppliers. If you wish to keep your references choose from one of the options below. Make sure you do this before the end of your course.

• You can pay to subscribe to the service as an individual from the RefWorks website and then backup all your references from your OU account and restore them into your new personal account.
• Export your references from Refworks as either a BibText or RIS file and import them into another package. Some examples are given below, but note that they may not offer the same level of functionality as RefWorks.

Using Papers

Papers is a bibliographic management software available for Mac that can search a number of databases from within it. We do not support users of this program, but provide the following advice on setting it up to access resources through the OU Library subscriptions:

1. From Papers Preferences choose the Sources tab
2. Set the authentication url to http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/
3. Set the Library proxy to http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=%@
4. Close preferences and restart Papers.

This will allow you to use most of the search options in Papers, but to use Web of Science you need to modify a support file called gatewayurl.txt. which is found in the following path:

   Users/username/Library/Application Support/Papers/PlugIns/SearchEngines/WOSSearchEngine.searchengine/Contents/Resources/

Open this file and replace the single text line with this one (make sure there are no line breaks in the string):

   http://wok-ws.isiknowledge.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/esti/soap/SearchRetrieve

We have no licence for Papers, so if you wish to use it you will need to purchase it from the link above.

Other bibliographic management software:

There are a number of free services which offer similar functionality to those above:

• Zotero - a free bibliographic software extension for users of the Firefox browser. Features include automatic capture of information from websites, formatted citation export, integration with Microsoft Word.
• CiteULike - a free social bookmarking service to help academics to share, store, and organise the academic papers they are reading. It specialises in academic papers.
• Connotea - free reference management service, designed specifically for scientists and clinicians. Features include import and exports in RIS format some automatic data capture - works best with scientific sites.
• BibSonomy - is a free social bookmarking service, enabling exporting in a variety of formats and feeds.
• JabRef - is an open source bibliography reference manager that interfaces with bibsonomy but can also be used stand-alone.