EndNote Tutorials

I have developed this page to present some handy hints and tips for choosing an appropriate reference manager and some work arounds that help to improve the efficiency of my preferred option…EndNote. I will discuss the following:

1. EndNote vs. Mendeley: a comparison of reference managers
2. Organising EndNote: Renaming EndNote PDF files with useful titles automatically
3. Improving EndNote Efficiency: Multiple computers and IPad using Dropbox

ENDNOTE vs. MENDELEY: A COMPARISON OF REFERENCE MANAGERS

The following are a list of advantages and disadvantages with the two reference managers that I
have discovered so far…

Mendeley Advantages

It is FREE!

Very easy to rename PDF files and organise into folders

Social network

Cloud server so library available on all computers and online

Ipad app to store and view references and PDFs

PDF editor

Mendeley Disadvantages

No customised citations and references…this is a huge disadvantage in my opinion as you are stuck with the pre-set reference styles which may not be tailored to particular journal “house styles”

Does not support references such as “Atkinson et al. (2012) reported that…” where author is outside of brackets.

Not easy to integrate with dropbox

ENDNOTE Advantages

High level of control for citation and bibliography style

Easy to use with multiple computers using dropbox (tutorial in upcoming post)

Ipad app to store and view references and PDFs

ENDNOTE Disadvantages

Expensive

Very easy to become disorganised with PDF names and storage unless prepared to invest time (see wall post for an automated way to tidy up PDF storage in ENDNOTE )

Please let me know if there are any others that you would add to this list…

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RENAME ENDNOTE PDF FILES WITH USEFUL TITLES “AUTOMATICALLY”

This tutorial allows for … all endnote attached PDF files to be renamed automatically in any combination of: Author-Title-Year-Journal.pdf
(whilst keeping most existing settings, including groups, intact)

Disclaimer…This is a guide based on what I found successful…these changes are to be performed at the user’s own risk.

Requirements: An existing endnote library
Download “Mendeley Desktop” from the Mendeley website

Method:
BACK UP!!

1. !!Save a backup of your endnote library!! This includes
a. “OriginalLibrary” (i.e. Endnote Library File with logo)
b. “OriginalLibrary.data” folder
c. YOU WILL NEED THIS LATER TO RESTORE CUSTOM SETTINGS

TO RENAME PDF FILES

2. Export ENDNOTE library to XML format…to do this
a. Select all references in library
b. File -> Export
i. Choose a file name eg. “TemporaryLib”
ii. “Save As Type” = XML
iii. “output Style” = show all fileds
3. Open Mendeley
a. Import your endnote library … File – > Add files -> Endnote XML
b. Select your previously saved export e.g. TemproraryLib
c. allow time for all pdf’s to be imported in Mendeley library
c. Use Mendeley’s automated function to rename files
i. Tools – > options -> FileOrganizer
ii. Check “organise files” and select location if one is not already there
iii. then check “rename document files” and drag tokens (author, Date etc) into preferred PDF save name order eg. Author_Date_Title.pdf
iv. Click apply
v. you will now have a folder with all journal articles renamed

TO IMPORT BACK INTO ENDNOTE

4. Within MENDELEY…
a. select all references
b. Export all references…File -> Export
i. Give the output a name such as “TempMendeley”
ii. “Save As Type” = “Endnote XML Format”
iii. This will create an XML file called “TempMendeley.xml” and a folder named “TempMendeley.data” … inside the folder will be a PDF folder with renamed pdf’s
5. Within ENDNOTE
a. Close existing endnote library (this is now obselete…dont forget this folder or the backup is required later though)
b. Create a new ENDNOTE library with name and location and name of your choosing eg. “UpdatedEndnoteLibrary”
This will create an EndnoteLibrary file called “UpdatedEndnoteLibrary” and a data folder called “UpdatedEndnoteLibrary.data”
c. Import the exported Mendeley library
i. File -> Import
Import Data File … Select the XML file “TempMendeley” from its saved location

You will notice that all references are now in ENDNOTE … but the PDF links in your folder don’t work and any custom groups have disappeared. To sort this…

TO LINK THE PDF FILES WITH THE REFERENCES

6. Copy “PDF” the folder (../TempMendeley.data/PDF/) into your (../UpdatedEndnoteLibrary.data/) folder …. Now the PDF links should work

TO LOAD CUSTOM SETTINGS RE-ORDER YOUR REFERENCES INTO PREVIOUS CUSTOM GROUPS

7. Go back to your “OriginalLibrary.data” folder and open “/rdb/” folder and copy the 3 files labelled “misc”
8. Paste these into your new “UpdatedEndnoteLibrary.data/rdb/” folder

Job done. The library should now look exactly how it did before, but now all of your PDFs are renamed usefully and you can feel organised for once! Let me know if this works for you!

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MULTIPLE COMPUTERS AND IPAD FOR ENDNOTE EFFICIENCY

Previously the merits of reference managers and a workaround for tidying up the PDF library have been discussed. The useful file cloud server Dropbox provides an extremely useful opportunity to seamlessly share your EndNote library among multiple computers. All you need to do is install Dropbox…

Dropbox
Dropbox creates a folder in your MyDocuments which is linked to the internet cloud server. Any other computers you install Dropbox on with the same username will synchronise the same folder. This is hence an arguably secure way to store files and have them available on all computers without the use of a memory stick…I use this for all of my work (although I back up regularly). Unfortunately there is an initial cap on free storage space of 2GB although this can be increased through friend referrals etc (up to 10GB).

Dropbox Integration with Endnote
This is super easy…just move the endnote library (both the endnote library file with logo and the endnote library.data folder) into your Dropbox folder. These files will automatically sync onto each computer. Then on each computer open endnote and open the newly located endnote library file. That’s it! Now, when you add new references on any computer, these will automatically update on all other computers. (it is recommended that you only have endnote open on one computer at a time)

Dropbox Integration with Endnote
There is now an IPad app available that allows you to store and annotate references.

I hope these articles have helped…please feel free to comment and let me know what you think about these articles