It makes sense to keep track of the information sources you have found, read or intend to read. Having a systematic way of doing this will enable you to spend more of your time on your research and less of your time on the basics of managing your information such as storing and retrieving your sources. It will also make it easier for you to create bibliographies when you need to.
You need to have a system which is:
You may have your own way of doing this already, but you could consider using reference management software.
There are a number of different tools you can use. SHU subscribes to RefWorks and EndNote, but there are also free options that you could consider.
Please note that EndNote is not available to students.
Below are some suggestions for what to consider when choosing your software:
If you are considering using ‘free’ software such as Mendeley, Zotero, Qiqqa, Colwiz, Citavi, etc. we recommend that you also consider:
If you would like to discuss the options with us, please contact the Library Research Support Team : Email: library-research-support@shu.ac.uk Call: (0114) 225 3852
We have produced a comparison of RefWorks and EndNote to help you to choose between these options.
Reference management software comparison for staff and researchers March 2017
For a more detailed comparison of these and a comparison with other tools, see the reference management software comparison from the Technischen Universität München.
You find out how to get started with using RefWorks from our SHU Guide to RefWorks which also covers how to import references, using Write-n-Cite in Microsoft Word to create citations and references and links to more.
RefWorks does not require installation on University PCs, however you may need to ask for Write-N-Cite (Proquest for Word) to be installed. Please contact IT Help (ithelp@shu.ac.uk).
There is a New version of RefWorks available
Proquest have released a new version of their reference management software, RefWorks. In the future, this will be a replacement for the version of RefWorks which has been available from the library for many years, now termed Legacy RefWorks. Legacy RefWorks is likely to stop being available sometime in 2019, but an exact date for this has not been decided by Proquest.
New RefWorks does have some features that may be of interest, particularly relating to PDFs of articles. If you would like to try it, please read our pages: Should I transfer from Legacy RefWorks to Proquest RefWorks?
If you are not currently using RefWorks, but think it may be helpful to you, please have a look at this page to see which may be the best version for you: Should I start using Legacy RefWorks or Proquest RefWorks?
A good place to find out more is the SHU guide to getting started with EndNote. This covers getting set up with EndNote and using Cite-While-you-Write. There are also links to tutorials and videos from the producers of EndNote
Please note that EndNote is not available to students.