Collecting and organizing citations can be one of the more frustrating tasks of research. Citation management or personal bibliographic software (PBS) can help by:
   

• automating the collection & organization of citations from databases and catalogues;

• inserting and formatting citations and bibliographies into word processing;

• and automatically formatting and reformatting references in particular styles e.g. Vancouver, APA, particular journals. For example, PBS takes a record like this:

AU: Wesner, Robert B.//Noyes, Russell, Jr.//Davis, Thomas L.
TI: The occurrence of performance anxiety among musicians
JR: Journal of Affective Disorders
VO: 18
IS: 3
PG: 177-185
DT: March 1990
   

• and changes it easily into the Vancouver or Index Medicus style:

1. Wesner RB, Noyes R Jr, Davis TL. The occurrence of performance anxiety among musicians. J Affective Disord 1990; 18:177-185

• and can reformat it into the American Psychological Association (APA) style:

Wesner, R.B., Noyes, R. Jr., & Davis, T.L.(1990). The occurrence of performance anxiety among musicians. Journal of Affective Disorders 18, 177-185.
   

• or even the Chicago Humanities style:

Wesner, Robert B.; Noyes, Russell, Jr.; and Davis, Thomas L. "The occurrence of performance anxiety among musicians." Journal of Affective Disorders 18 (1990):177-185.
   

• Before you buy, consider:

• Do the record types provided reflect the range of materials you use? (articles, urls)
• Is it easy to convert downloaded references for importing into your database?
• Is the software able to handle the commonly used styles (short citations in footnotes, in-text citations, different journals and publication styles) in your discipline?
• Can you output HTML or easily share bibliographies across platforms?
• Is the software flexible? Does it let you add or edit reference types, fields within reference types, style formats, and citations within the text, footnotes and bibliographies?
     

• PBS is also called bibliographic file management software, personal bibliographic management software (PBMS), bibliography generating software, citations management software, filing software, indexing software, literature citation management software, literature retrieval software, reprint file management software and reprint software.

• Source: CTI Textual Studies, Oxford University. An Overview of Personal Bibliographic Software. 1999 http://info.ox.ac.uk/ctitext/service/workshop/bib-overview.html
     

• From within most personal bibliographic software programs, you can connect to a database, enter your search and automatically import into your software the citations found. Filters must be implemented for the software to communicate with the database searched. Licensing restrictions from database vendors make it impossible for the University of Toronto Library to offer this facility. In the absence of filters, you do your search, download and save citations (Marc format is often a good saving option), and then import your saved citations into your bibliographic management software.

• Filters do work with freely available Z39.50 compliant databases such as PubMed.

• Filters & the UTL (SIRSI) Catalogue:
  • The connection filter integrated into most bibliographic software packages for U of T holdings must be altered for the new UTL Catalogue.
  • A patch is available from Endnote.
  • A patch is available from Reference Manager.
  • For other software packages, users should edit the connection file to include the following settings:
    • ip: sirsi.library.utoronto.ca or 142.150.190.41
    • port:2200
    • database: unicorn
  • For best results in the new UTL catalogue, we recommend simple keyword searches.

• Below is a highly selective list of resources. Unless otherwise noted, these articles can be accessed from the UTL E-journals page. Or, start with the links on this page and navigate to the article having first noted volume, issue and page numbers.

• To join a discussion about personal bibliographic management software, Send an email to LISTSERV@IUPUI.EDU; leave the subject line blank; enter "SUBSCRIBE BIBSOFT, Last Name, First Name" in the text. Please note specific e-forums also exist on EndNote and Reference Manager.

• Dell'Orso F. Bibliography formatting software: an evaluation template 7th edition 2002; http://www.burioni.it/forum/ors-bfs.htm (detailed!)

• Thomson ISI RsearchSoft. Compare Products {ProCite, EndNote and Reference Manager} current information but supplied by the company
  http://thomsonisiresearchsoft.com/compare/

• Information Systems and Technology, University of Waterloo. Which Personal Bibliographic Management Package Should I Choose? 2000. http://www.ist.uwaterloo.ca/ew/biblio/which.html

• Satya-Murti S. Reference managers JAMA 2000 September 27; 284(12): 1581 –3. (A challenge to find in this issue. Look for "Satya-Murti" or "EndNote" via the contents page. Very useful)

Tutorials

• Public Health Library. UC Berkeley. EndNote Help and Tutorials
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/PUBL/endnote.html

• Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah. Bibliographic Management tutorials and handouts on Endnote 6 and 7 http://medlib.med.utah.edu/library/edumaterials/eduservices/libclasses.html#bib

• University of Queensland Cybrary. Various guides & tutorials for EndNote 3 to 7 http://www.library.uq.edu.au/endnote/

• Reference Department. Northwestern University Library. Bringing an old bibliography into EndNote http://www.library.northwestern.edu/reference/services/EndNote

Reviews

• White, M.D. (2003). EndNote 6 (CD-ROM and Software manual). Library and
  Information Science Research, 25(2), 229-231

• McCallum B. Software: from database to citation Science 2000 September 15 289 (5486): 1893 – 4.

• Wilson, T. (2003). EndNote 6.0. Information Research: an International Electronic Journal, 8(2).

Listserv

• Send a message to LISTSERV@RESEARCHSOFT.COM; leave the subject blank; enter "SUBSCRIBE ENDNOTE-INTEREST, Last Name, First Name" in the text.

• Message archives http://www.researchsoftware.nl/kb/gforum.cgi?category=10

Technical Support

• including downloading: http://www.endnote.com/support/ensupport.asp or email:
  mac-endnote@isiresearchsoft.com
  or
  pc-endnote@isiresearchsoft.com

Tutorials

• Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Reference Manager Basics. 2001
  http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/tutorial/tutorial_toc.html?tutorialID=11

• Rockefeller Medical Library, Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London. Reference Manager: an introductory workshop. 2000
  http://www.ion.ucl.ac.uk/library/rm.htm

• Imperial College Libraries. Reference Manager 10
  • FAQ http://www.imperial.ac.uk/library/resources/ref_faq.html
    
  • Training guide http://www.imperial.ac.uk/library/resources/pdfs/rm10handbook.pdf

• Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah.
  • Reference Manager 10 http://medlib.med.utah.edu/library/edumaterials/eduservices/refman_v10.pdf

Reviews

• Alexander, G. (2003). Top drawer: software review. Reference Manager v.10. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 21(3), 113-114.

• Collins, Linda J. Reference Manager 10. Journal of the Medical Library Association 2002 July 90(3):357-8.

• Garson GD. Reference Manager Social Science Computer Review 1999 Winter 17(4): 491-3.

• Shmaefsky BR. Reference Manager 9 Science 2000 June 16 288: (5473) 1981.

Listserv

• Send a message to majordomo@isiresearchsoft.com with "subscribe RIS-List" contained in the body of your message. Leave the subject line blank.

• Message archives http://www.researchsoftware.nl/kb/gforum.cgi?category=10 .

Technical Support

• including downloading: http://www.refman.com/support/rmsupport.asp or email: refman@isiresearchsoft.com.