University Libraries

How to Use RefWorks

RefWorks

RefWorks is a program that University of Akron students have access to via the library’s homepage (http://www.uakron.edu/libraries) at the Article & Research Databases link.

RefWorks is what is known as a Bibliographic Management or Bibliographic Citation tool. This means that RefWorks will organize citations from online research tools (like the UA Libraries Catalog or Academic Search Premier ) and store them for you in a folder, where you can then choose a bibliographic citation style in which to order and organize the citations (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc.). In the long run, this can save you hours of work, but in the short run, you must still learn how to use RefWorks, as well as have a fundamental understanding of what citations are and what a bibliography should look like.

RefWorks does not directly import references from the internet or web search engines like Yahoo, Alta Vista, etc., but it does work with Google Scholar.

Importing into Refworks from:

Exporting Citations from Different Databases

While in the UA Libraries Catalog:

There are 2 ways to mark records for export in the UA Libraries catalog:

1. Check the “Mark” box on a list of results and then hit the grey “Save Marked Records” button

...THEN

2. In an individual record, click on the Blue “Export” button at the top of the screen.

Whichever way you choose, when you are ready to export the records, click on “Export Saved List” at the top of the screen {if you do not see this choice at the top of the screen, simply click on the link into any individual record (which is its title) and then you should see the “Export Saved List” appear in blue at the top of the screen}.

To transfer to RefWorks:

1. Open another window on your computer so that you have 2 open—1 for the UA Libraries Catalog and one for RefWorks.

2. Log in to RefWorks from the library’s homepage (http://www.uakron.edu/libraries) under the Research Databases link. First time users must set up an account first, which only takes a minute.

3. Once in RefWorks, go to the Folders drop-down menu at the top middle of the screen, and choose “Create New Folder.” Type in a name for your folder and click OK

4. Next go to the References drop-down in the upper-left corner and choose “Import”.

5. Now go back to your UA Libraries Catalog screen and choose “Local Disk” as your choice under the Send List To box and click on the grey “Submit” box.

6. A pop-up window will ask you “Do you want to open or save this file?” — choose Save.

7. The default save location will be different, depending on your computer. It is not really important where you save the file, as long as you remember where you are saving it, as you must retrieve this file shortly to import it into RefWorks. You may change the default name of this file if you’d like, but it is not necessary (export.txt is the default name). Click on “Save”.

8. The next pop-up screen will say “Download Complete”—click on the Close button in the lower right.

9. Now go back into your RefWorks screen (you should be on the Import screen). This screen can be rather confusing, but next to the top line that says Import Filter/Data Source choose Innovative Interfaces INNOPAC.

10. From the next line down (the Database line) you can simply choose the first item (or school) in the drop-down menu (Agnes Scott College).

11. Next choose the name of your folder from the drop-down menu next to “Import References into” and then.

12. Now click “Browse” on the right-hand side.

13. A pop-up window will appear again which should go to the desktop where you just saved the export.txt (or whatever you re-named it) file. If not, change the drop-down menu next to “Look in:” to the location where you saved the export.txt file.

14. Either double-click on the export.txt file, or click on it once and then click “Open”.

15. Finally, click on “Import” at the bottom of the screen.

16. You should then see the message Import completed - # references imported.

17. Click on “View Last Imported Folder” to see them.

Now your references are in your RefWorks account, and can be always be viewed by going to the appropriate folder. They can also be manipulated into various citations styles and formats by going to the Bibliography drop-down menu.

While in the Academic Search Premier Database

Academic Search Premier

1. On any list of results, click on the “Add” folder in the far right column, or once with a citation (on the screen which lists the Abstract and Subject Terms) click on “Add to Folder” at the top middle of the screen.

...OR

2. Once you do this, the folder icon, which usually appears at the top right of any screen, should say “Folder has items” underneath it.

3. When you are ready to export an item or list of items to RefWorks, click on the aforementioned “Folder has items” link.

4. You will then see your citation(s) listed, and a link at the top of the list for “Save to Disk” (to the right of Print and E-mail).

5. When you click on “Save to Disk,” the next screen will show a gray “Save” button, but rather than clicking on this, change the blue index tab above the listing which says “Number of items to be saved” to Bibliographic Manager.

6. Next, over on the right-hand side of the following screen, change the option to “Direct Export to RefWorks”.

7. Now click the grey “Save” button.

8. If you are not already or still logged in to RefWorks, the log in screen will appear.

9. You should then see the message Import completed - # references imported.

10. Click on “View Last Imported Folder” to see them.

Manual Bibliographic Insertion

1. Log in to the RefWorks database.

2. Click on References.

3. Select Add New Reference.

4. From that point on you are given the option to select:

a. The citation style you need.

b. The file type for the information.

c. The reference type that the material represents.

5. The selection of those previous three options will allow the database to adjust itself and inform the user as to the required and/or recommended fields to manually enter citation information.

6. If you have a question about some of the fields, RefWorks provides additional comments regarding some of the individual fields.

7. When the user is finished entering the information, click Save Reference.

Now your reference has been inserted into your RefWorks account and it can be viewed by going to the designated folder you have set up. They can also be arranged into various citations styles and formats by going to the Bibliography drop-down menu.

Google Scholar RefWorks Insertion

1. From Google Scholar, click on Scholar Preferences.

2. Scroll to where it says Bibliography Manager

3. Select the button that says, "Show links to import citations into" and choose RefWorks from the drop menu.

4. Click on Save Preferences.

5. Do a search through Google Scholar. Under each individual result you should see a link that says “Import into RefWorks”. Click on that link.

6. If you are not already or still logged in to RefWorks, the log in screen will appear. Enter your username and password.

7. You should then be taken to the "Edit Reference" page where RefWorks will have inserted some of the bibliographic information from Google Scholar.

From that point on you should check to make sure that these three areas are in order:

a. The citation style you need.

b. The file type for the information.

c. The reference type that the material represents.

Also, be sure to check the page and make sure that RefWorks does not require any additional information about the material in question. Once all of the information is entered, click on the "Save Reference" button.

8. Your should receive a message at the top of the page that says, "This reference has been saved".

OSearch Database

1. On any list of results, click on the “Store” button that is next to the “Find It” button. This is done in both the list and individual record displays.

...OR

2. Once this is done, a check will appear in the box with the “Store” text changed to “Added” in the list view and “Added to Stored Records” in the individual view.

...OR

3. When it is time to export your selected items to RefWorks, click on the link that says “Stored Records”.

4. You will then see your citation(s) listed at the bottom of the page, and a link to “Export Records” located on the right-hand side of the page.

5. When you click on “Export Records” you are taken to a screen where you are given the option to select a button that says “Direct Export to RefWorks”.

6. If the option is not selected, on the right choose “Automatically import into bibliographic manager program”

7. Click on the “Export Now” button.

8. If you are not already or still logged in to RefWorks, the log in screen will appear. Enter your username and password.

9. You should then see the message Import completed - # references imported.

10. Click on “View Last Imported Folder” to see them.

OhioLINK Database

1. On any list of results, click on the “Mark” box that is to the left of the individual record button. This can also be done within the record by clicking on the "Save for Export" button

...OR

2. click on the "View Saved Records" button to view your saved OhioLINK catalog records.

...OR

3. Find where the screen says Send List To and select "Local Disk" from the list of options. Then click the "Submit" button.

4. A pop-up window will ask you “Do you want to open or save this file?” — choose Save.

5. The default save location will be different, depending on your computer. It is not really important where you save the file, as long as you remember where you are saving it, as you must retrieve this file shortly to import it into RefWorks. You may change the default name of this file if you’d like, but it is not necessary (export.txt is the default name). Click on “Save”.

6. The next pop-up screen will say “Download Complete”—click on the Close button in the lower right.

7. Now go back into your RefWorks screen (you should be on the Import screen). This screen can be rather confusing, but next to the top line that says Import Filter/Data Source choose Innovative Interfaces INNOPAC.

8. From the next line down (the Database line) you can simply choose the first item (or school) in the drop-down menu (Agnes Scott College).

9. Next choose the name of your folder from the drop-down menu next to “Import References into” and then.

10. Now click “Browse” on the right-hand side.

10. A pop-up window will appear again which should go to the desktop where you just saved the export.txt (or whatever you re-named it) file. If not, change the drop-down menu next to “Look in:” to the location where you saved the export.txt file.

11. Either double-click on the export.txt file, or click on it once and then click “Open”.

12. Finally, click on “Import” at the bottom of the screen

13. You should then see the message Import completed - # references imported.

14. Click on “View Last Imported Folder” to see them.