Never Type a Bibliography Again! Introducing RefWorks

Q. What do the following documentation styles have in common: APA, MLA, Turabian and Chicago?    

A.  Students find all those convoluted rules absolutely baffling.  

Good news for baffled students: With RefWorks citation management software, correct documentation begins the moment they locate pertinent references in the library’s many databases. They no longer need worry about misspelling an author’s name or forgetting to record a date of publication, because RefWorks captures all essential data. 

Write-N-Cite, a simple plug-in, then enables students to choose a documentation style, create in-text references or footnotes and format their bibliography as they type their papers. No more last-minute flipping through style manuals! 

Because RefWorks is web-based, students can access their research from any Internet-connected location. References can be organized into folders and retrieved later on by any term contained in the file. In addition, Falvey’s “Find it” icon is included, making it easy for students to locate the full text of journal articles. Finally, the RefShare feature facilitates group projects by letting students share their research.

Faculty can also take advantage of RefWorks to organize their research and can use RefShare to compile and e-mail lists of required readings to their students.  

Want to get started? Access RefWorks from the Falvey home page by clicking the Databases A-Z link or the Help tab. Your Villanova LDAP ID and password are required. Once logged in, create your own personal account. Then spend a little time getting familiar with RefWorks by viewing the tutorial.

RefWorks or EndNote? Because it is web based and intuitively designed, RefWorks is sure to be a favorite of undergraduates. However, Falvey will continue to support EndNote, another popular citation management package. 

Can’t decide which one to choose? Here is a brief comparison of some of the features of each product.

For more information, contact the appropriate library subject liaison team or Barbara Quintiliano (telephone: 610-519-5207). 

Contributed by Barbara Quintiliano