The Basic Bare-Bones Beginner's Guide to RefWorks©
Why Is Research Difficult? (3 reasons.)
There is usually SO much information from SO many sources that by the end of your research you have lost track.
Writing bibliographies and citing sources is usually the least fun and least exciting part of any project.
Citation guides for style formatting tips can be confusing and different instructors can prefer different styles (APA, MLA, etc...)
Why Use RefWorks? (3 really good reasons.)
RefWorks will organize all your reference information so that it is in one easy-to-find place.
RefWorks can automatically do your bibliography and cite in-text references with a mouse click.
RefWorks can cite your references in one of hundreds of styles.
Sound Good? Keep Reading.
In essence what RefWorks does is this: it collects data on all the books, journals, articles, videos, etc. that you are using as references, puts them in one place, lets you organize them, and then creates a ready-made bibliography from the information. You can also use a program that is called Write-n-Cite to insert citation information directly into the paper as you write it.
To access Refworks you can go through the library's electronic databases page and lookup the database alphabetically. If you are off-campus you will need to go through EZProxy.
In order to access Refworks you will need to create a user name and password. It is a free and easy process that only takes a minute. To do so, Click on the Sign up for an Individual Account link.
TIP: Use an easy to remember Username and Password and use your FAU e-mail address.
Ready Now? Let's Go.
Once you have logged in and you are on the main page, you will notice a toolbar that runs near the top of the page. Here is an explanation of the toolbar.
1. References - This area will allow you to import, export, and manually input data. It will also allow you to organize your folders and backup your data to a local database (such as a hard drive, disc, or thumb drive).
2. Search - This is where you go if you want to look up information within the database by author, descriptor, or periodical, or if you would like to do an advanced search (this is helpful if you are starting to get a lot of information). This is also the place where you can go to search outside of Refworks and search a specific database (like the FAU catalog) to import records from.
3. View - Allows you to look at the information that you have already brought in. There is a function that will allow you locate any duplicate records, as well.
4. Folders - Once you have downloaded the records you want to create a bibliography with, you will need to organize them. This is the place where you can create folders to place all the files for easier access.
5. Bibliography - Takes you to a separate page where you can preview formatting styles and create a bibliography with the information that you have collected.
6. Tools - This area is where you can access Write-n-Cite, preview output styles, change the viewable language of RefWorks, or personalize the site.
7. Help - Gives you access to the RefWorks tutorial (which is excellently written and highly recommended), a quick start guide, and contact information for the people at the company if you are having technical trouble or any other questions.
8. Search RefWorks - Is the basic search box for seeking information on the RefWorks site.
There are three ways to add references to RefWorks: 1. Directly import the references from an online database. 2. Import the information from a text file. 3. manually input the data. (You can also import from a online search but we will get to that in the next section.)
Directly Import References
This is the easiest and fastest way, so if you can, do it this way. Some of the FAU databases that you can currently directly import data from include ProQuest, EBSCOHost, OCLC, and Wilson.
The way to download the information is easy. Keep the Refworks database open in one window. In a separate window, do a search the way that you normally do (for this example we will use OCLC ArticleFirst). Here is the search result we want. We will then click on the Export button.
Once you click export, a new page will appear. Select the RefWorks database and click the EXPORT button again.
After you have clicked the Export button, look at the RefWorks database. You will notice that the transaction has registered on the page.
If we click the Last Imported Folder button, we can see the whole record.
If we were to click on the dropdown arrow, we would also have the ability to the single-line or full record. Now we know the record is stored correctly in the database.
TIP: Remember that each database is different (EBSCOhost Proquest, etc.) You may have to look around to see where in the databases the export features are. If you are not sure ASK A LIBRARIAN!
Now we will look at how to import records from a file.
Importing the Data from a Text File
This is a little bit trickier, but still not that difficult. Just like last time, first you need to find the article that you wish to use. Let's use a citation we like from PubMed.
First we want to select the citation we chose and we will use the drop down menus to change the display to MEDLINE and TEXT.
TIP: Remember that the ways to save a record as text file will vary depending on the database. You may have to do some sleuthing to figure out the various ways for different databases.
Once we do that a new page will automatically come up with the citation displayed in MEDLINE format. As shown below we want to save this data as a TEXT file.
Once the file is saved (remember where you saved it to!), you can go back to RefWorks to import it. On the toolbar under REFERENCES you want to select IMPORT. Once there it will take you into another page.
The record should then appear as successfully uploaded.
TIP: If you need additional help, or if the record does not import correctly, click on the How to Import link.
Entering the Data Manually
This is going to be the easiest but most labor intensive way to get the information on the database. You should not have to do this too often.
First select Add New Reference from References on the toolbar. This should take you on another page.
You must then type in all the information that you have in the given data fields. You can also cut and paste the information straight into the document.
Once you clicked Save Reference the information should be available in the RefWorks database.
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