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Questions & Answers about EndNote

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EndNote on the Web

Vanderbilt students, faculty, and staff have free access to EndNote Web! Learn more at the EndNote Web site.

 

What is EndNote?

EndNote is a software package designed to help you organize bibliographic references and create a bibliography. There are various ways to build an EndNote Library (basically, a database to store references for deployment in documents), including manual entry, connection files, and import filters.

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How do I get EndNote?

Some possibilities:

Note: You may download a fully-featured trial version of EndNote for free to try for 30 days.

A Web version of EndNote is available for Vanderbilt faculty, staff, and students. Learn more at the EndNote Web site, and see how the client version of EndNote compares with the Web version at this comparison page.

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How do I use EndNote and where can I get help?

For EndNote training and support, contact one of the following library staff members:

Also useful:

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How can I use EndNote with Vanderbilt resources?

Through connection files, EndNote can connect directly to a number information resources at Vanderbilt including the online library catalog, Acorn, and certain other databases that use the Z39.50 protocol.

For resources that do not support Z39.50 connections, downloaded references can be imported into EndNote databases using import filters.

Occasional updates to connection files are announced by way of the EndNote email list. (See above under "How do I use EndNote and where can I get help?" for more about the EndNote e-mail list.) If you have a connection file (or filter) that you'd be willing to share with other Vanderbilt users, please send it to the list.

Questions about using connection files and import filters? See the "How do I use EndNote and where can I get help?" section above.

Questions about using EndNote in conjunction with Vanderbilt's licensed electronic resources? Contact Rick Stringer-Hye.

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What is an EndNote Library?

A Library is a collection of references. When you open the EndNote program, you are asked to select a reference library. You can create multiple libraries, which may contain references for different papers or subjects.

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How do I transfer groups of citations from a database search?

You can transfer citations from a bibliographic database to your EndNote library through the Import feature or the Connect feature.

When importing search results, you download records from a database, save them to a file, and then use an import filter to transfer the downloaded records into your EndNote library.

EndNote's Connect / Online Search feature allows you, through the use of a connection file, to search an online database using EndNote's search interface and directly transfer the references to your EndNote library. Note, however, not all databases support connection files.

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How do I use EndNote with my word processer to create a bibliography?

If you use a later version of Microsoft Word for Windows or Macintosh or WordPerfect for Windows, EndNote installs commands in your word processor to integrate the two programs. EndNote is also compatible with other word processing programs.

To use EndNote to cite references in a paper and then create a bibliography for the paper, you insert the necessary citations from your EndNote database into the text of your word processing document. When you have completed the paper, you select a bibliographic style (e.g. Chicago, APA, JAMA) and tell EndNote to "format" a bibliography for the paper. EndNote scans the paper, finds the citations you pasted, modifies the in-text citations and adds a formatted bibliography to the end of your paper.

Need more help? See the "How do I use EndNote and where can I get help?" section above.

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What bibliographic styles can I use to format my paper?

EndNote comes with hundreds of bibliographic styles (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago) for formatting your citations. To find and preview available styles, you can browse the Style Finder by the name of a journal or style guide publication.

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Does EndNote work with non-Roman languages?

Beginning with version 8, EndNote works with non-Roman languages. According to EndNote's Web site, "EndNote 8 implements support for the Unicode standard, providing users with a solution for processing and displaying multilingual text. Unicode covers all principal languages of the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim. With EndNote 8 researchers and students can cite references and create bibliographies for their papers using any language." The same is true for later versions.

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Can I share my EndNote files with others over the web?

EndNote Web allows you to create groups of references and then "share" them with others who have EndNote Web accounts. For more, see the Sharing Groups Web page.

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How do I transfer an existing reference list to EndNote?

If you have a list of references in word processor format, EndNote suggests several options for transferring them to an EndNote library: (1) create a custom tagged format to Import into EndNote (for more information, under the EndNote Help menu, see Contents--Importing Reference Data--Creating Text files EndNote can Import--Creating a Custom "Tagged" Format); or (2) copy/paste each part of each reference into its corresponding field in an EndNote record template. A better option may be to search your references in a database and import them to EndNote.

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What about other citation managers?

EndNote is only one of several excellent citation managers available. The following review articles may help you decide which one would be best for you:

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Where can I find information about EndNote on their Web site?

Updated 04/16/2008
C. Benda

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