Please note: there are no citation management products that store data exclusively on Canadian servers. Popular competitor products like Endnote, Mendeley and Zotero all store their data on non-Canadian servers. Use of these services is voluntary and by using them you will have your username, email address and citations stored on a US server means that your account information will be subject to US laws, specifically the US Patriot Act, which allows US authorities to have access to your personal information.
There are many tools available to assist you with managing the references that you collect in the course of your research. Features may include:
This guide is meant to assist in selecting a tool that serves your needs, and to offer links to help resources.
Citation management software is a very useful tool, but remember that it is only a tool. Like a spell checker, it gets things right most of the time but does not take the place of careful proof-reading.
No one citation management tool does everything that you need. It is important to think about your needs and select a tool that best suits it. Most citation management tools allow you to take copies of your data and import that data into another product, should you discover that the tool that you've selected is limiting.
RefWorks is a web-based citation management system that allows you to collect and store citations, as well as generate in-text citations and create a bibliography.
NOTE: RefWorks is hosted on a US server and does not comply with BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) which requires that the mandated use of systems located outside of Canada must be with prior written consent if the user has to provide personal information.
Your Library PIN (Personal Identification Number) is a number that confirms your identity to the library computer system. It is used to request interlibrary loans.
Your default Library PIN is your 6-digit birth date in the form: YYMMDD.
For example, if your birthday was September 8, 1998, your PIN would be: 980908
Mendeley is a combination of a desktop application and a website which helps you manage, share and discover both research content and research contacts. Mendeley also allows you to drag & drop PDFs into your Mendeley account and then highlight and annotate those PDFs and share them with others.
Mendeley's free version has some space limitation (2 GB of web storage, 500 MB each for personal storage), 3 users and 1 shared collection. Premium accounts are available.
NOTE: Mendeley is hosted on a US server and does not comply with BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) which requires that the mandated use of systems located outside of Canada must be with prior written consent if the user has to provide personal information.
The Mac window is similar; with different icons at the top that perform the same functions.
TIP: There is an existing file titled ‘Getting Started with Mendeley’ that is in the ‘All Documents’ folder. This file has is a detailed introduction to using Mendeley.
Use the Web Importer bookmarklet to save references into your Mendeley account.
Drag one or more PDFs from a dedicated folder on your desktop, shared space or USB driver into your library on Mendeley Desktop. Mendeley extracts (as best it can) the relevant metadata: author, title, journal name, etc... to create a record.
NOTE: Keep a folder for Mendeley PDFs on each computer, network drive or USB that you use (it only need to have the PDFs that were uploaded from that computer, not all PDFs in Mendeley).
If Mendeley senses that there may be errors in the record, that record will be placed in a Needs Review folder until you correct the information or confirm that the information is correct.
NOTE: Mendeley's free version has some space limitation (2 GB of web storage, 500 MB each for personal storage), 3 users and 1 shared collection. Premium accounts are available. If you are needing a group of more than 3 additional users besides yourself, consider using Zotero (instructions coming soon).
Note: If you have attached files in RefWorks, they will NOT be imported. Save the files to your desktop and save tehm into Mendeley using Add Files. Mendeley will use the metadata to attach them to the correct record.
Zotero is a Firefox add in and a standalone download for Chrome and Safari that collects, manages, and cites research sources. It's easy to use, lives in your web browser where you do your work, and best of all it's free.
Zotero allows you to attach PDFs, notes and images to your citations, organize them into collections for different projects, and create bibliographies.
NOTE: Zotero is hosted on a US server and does not comply with BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) which requires that the mandated use of systems located outside of Canada must be with prior written consent if the user has to provide personal information.
TIP: There is an existing file titled ‘Zotero Quick Start Guide’ that is in the ‘My Library’ folder. This file has is a detailed introduction to using Zotero.
If you don't see the Zotero “Z” icon in the Firefox toolbar, click the “Open menu” button in the Firefox toolbar (the icon with three horizontal lines) and click Customize. You should see the Zotero icon in either the customization page to the left or the menu panel to the right. Drag the icon where you want it. If you only open Zotero infrequently and would prefer not to take up room in your toolbar, you can keep the icon in the menu panel and use the “Open menu” button to access it.
Zotero saves references from most library databases, library catalogues (including TRU's) and even many web pages, with one click. If Zotero detects that you're looking at a book or article in a catalog, database, or a site like Amazon.com, you'll see a book or page icon appear in the address bar of your browser. Click the icon and Zotero will automatically save the citation.
If you're on a page of search results with many items, you'll see a folder icon instead. Click this to get a list of all the items on the page, and check off the ones you want to save.
Drag one or more PDFs from a dedicated folder on your desktop, shared space or USB driver into your Zotero library. Zotero can take PDFs of scholarly papers and query the Google Scholar database for matches. The most straight-forward way it does this is by matching up an embedded Digital Object Identifier (DOI), but that's far from necessary. If Zotero finds the PDF in Google Scholar, it creates a new library item for the paper, downloads the bibliographic metadata from and attaches the original PDF to the new item. Begin by dragging your existing PDFs into your Zotero library or use the “Store Copy of File” option from the add new item menu (green plus sign). Once they appear in the middle column, select the ones for which you wish to retrieve metadata. Right click on them and select “Retrieve Metadata for PDF”. If Zotero was able to find a match on Google Scholar, you should be all set. With this feature, there should be no major hurdles to switching to Zotero and taking full advantage of all its powerful search, indexing, organizational and citation features
Word processor plugins allow you to insert citations and bibliographies directly into your documents. Installing them is optional but highly recommended.
(If you're using Zotero Standalone, you don't need to install Word toolbars; they are included with Zotero Standalone.)
Note: If you have attached files in RefWorks, they will NOT be imported. Save the files to your desktop and save tehm into Mendeley using Add Files. Mendeley will use the metadata to attach them to the correct record.