Bibliographic Management Software

Getting Started

Bibliographic management software packages help you to store references to articles, books, and other resources so that you can draw on them in multiple documents, and these packages enable you to insert citations and bibliographies into papers with ease.

The best way to get a sense of how these packages work is to try them out. All of the packages except EndNote Web and Zotero require you to pay for them, but you can sign up for a free trial by following any of the links in the list below.

• EndNote
• EndNote Web (free with the library's subscription to Web of Knowledge; you need to sign up for an account)
• ProCite
• Reference Manager
• RefWorks
• Zotero (free)

Note: Library staff have more experience with EndNote than with other packages. A couple of locally produced resources may be helpful in getting you oriented to EndNote in particular:

• The EndNote and EndNote Web Research Guide (created by Vanderbilt Library staff) gives basic information about EndNote.
• A handout (pdf) that has been used in previous EndNote instruction sessions is available as a basic guide for getting started with EndNote.

Specific Questions About EndNote

If you have a specific question about how to do something in EndNote (or another package), let us know. (Again, at this point, library staff members have a better knowledge of EndNote and EndNote Web than other packages.)

Possible solutions to more general (EndNote) problems:

• I'm trying to import references into EndNote (from ATLA, Acorn, etc.): Basic instructions for ways to get references into EndNote can be found on this handout (pdf) under the section "Creating and Updating an EndNote Library."
  Quick tips:
  • ATLA allows you to do a direct export of references into EndNote. For more on this, see Printing, E-mailing, Saving, and Exporting in the ATLA Database.
  • To bring references into an EndNote library from Acorn, you can use the Vanderbilt U connection file that comes with EndNote. More on using connection files is available in the Connecting to Databases section of the EndNote and EndNote Web Research Guide.
• I'm trying to insert references into my Word document: Basic instructions for inserting references into Word documents can be found on the second page of this handout (pdf) under the section "Importing references into a Word document."
• I've heard you can search some of the library's databases from EndNote. How does that work? A limited number of databases (including ATLA) can be searched from your EndNote program. You'll need the appropriate connection files to do this. More instructions on the process can be found on this handout (pdf) under the section "Creating and Updating an EndNote Library."