As well as the above, I ask it to display the Record Number on the left of the window. I then use this to number my paper copies and store them in lever arch files in number order. The beauty of this method is that you don't have to faff around deciding which topic to file a paper under. Likewise stops you from having to reorganise your filing as you get more papers, because you just collate them in sequence. Obviously to locate a paper, just search the author's name in endnote and it tells you the record number. Easy.

Hi

I don't know if anyone has already mentioned this, but for those of you out there who would like to use EndNote but don't have it, there is a web version of it called EndNote Web. It is a slightly simplified version of EndNote, but I find it brilliant coz you can access it from anywhere since it is online, and you can also transfer files between the web edition and your home EndNote library (also very handy if you use EndNote at home, but want to also have access to your library from work). Oh yeah, and it's free to register!

The link is: www.endnoteweb.com

Are there any good books on the subject? I'm part time and I work in education and when I'm off, the uni isn't working (I don't mean it is broken - at least I don't think it is ) so I can't get to the course, the one group of part-timers they never seem to cater for are those of us doing education - which I find a bit ironic really

I think the one good thing about endnote is that its pretty simple if all you want to do is ref your papers etc.

You connect to the publication server you want (through endnote - tools tab --connect) a screen for narrowing your search comes up, type in the appropriate journal title/ author/ year - a list wil come up - you can narrow the field by author etc (all on the one screen) select the one you want and click add to library - it then puts in ALL the data for you.

When you want to put refs in your paper, open the library, select the one you want and click the insert icon - which appears in Word (you might have to configure word for this but there are plenty of simple online (google) guides to doing this and will take about 60 secs)

When you want to change format its as simple as clicking format (in the endnote tab in word) and selecting the journal format type you want

Once you have all your journals/books ref'd then all you do is open your library, select ref, click insert and get on with your life - endnote does the rest.

There is your 60 second guide to using endnote

Point is its fairly simple and easy to use - some of the more complex stuff might take a while to master but there is a help section in the programe as well (if you really need them)

sj04, i'm intrigued by your description of how to insert references in your writing in word - it sounds so cumbersome! You describe that you actually leave word, go to endnote, find the reference, click on it... and then go back to word, i presume.

i might be wrong but you might be interested that the same can be done very simply without ever leaving word, and you don't need to remove your hands from the keyboard, either: you simply press alt-7 while writing. given that your endnote is running in the background, a search window will open, you type the author's name (for example), and hit enter. so apart from starting it up in the morning, you never even have to go to endnote - you do everything from word.

good stuff - didn't know that - good tip

I have started putting some stuff in, seems to be OK, but how do you get it to give a journal a unique ref number? Can't find anywhere to do that. Also, if you use Harvard, which I do, it doesn't seem to give the volume number in bold, as expected, If I put it in in bold, will that affect what it shows if I have to use another ref system. I've a big pile of papers that I'm thinking I ought to get on the system before I do anything else , so at least I have an idea of what I have lurking in the filing cabinets!

If you enter author names manually, make sure you start in a new line for the second (and third) author - otherwise Endnote will confuse first names and abbreviations.

Joyce, I assume you mean you want each reference to have a unique number. EndNote automatically assigns each entry a "Record number" and it will always keep this number even if you delete lower numbered entries - so you can number your paper copies the same way in the knowledge that EndNote will not change them (unless you import that library into another library in which case it will renumber the imported entries - better to keep one library for all).....

.....To display the Record Number on the display screen, go to the Edit menu Preferences. Select "Display Fields" from the left box. I have EndNote X which allows you to display up to 8 columns so decide which you want. I have Column 1 as the "Record Number", in which case click the drop down menu for "Field" next to Column 1 and choose "Record Number". You could rename the Heading if you wish. I just call it "#". Then have, say, column 2 as Author, C3 as Year, C4 as Title, C5 as Journal/Secondary Title, C6 as Reference Type, C7 as URL (to link to your electronic copies) and C8 as Keywords. Or whatever order you prefer!

Thanks for that information, I will be spending the next week entering stuff so at least I will have it all in one place. I will take your advice about just using one library, as that seems most sensible since it will all end up in one place anyway. It is really great to have people on tap who actually know what it can do - I'll most probably be back with more questions soon

Cool. One piece of advice though, keep a backup copy of your library as EndNote has the occasional bug!

joyce, about the bold issue number: if the harvard style delivered with your endnote does not automatically make it bold, you can change the style settings. you can adapt any style or build one from scratch. just open the style manager, save a copy of the harvard style (for backup) and then go into harvard style and change what you want it to look like. then when you use this adapted harvard style - you can give it your own name - the issue numbers will appear in bold. i worked out the details by experimenting and playing around with it (that's why it is important to keep the backup) but if you don't manage and need more detailed instructions, just ask!