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Using RefWorks at Princeton: 2. Saving citations to RW (including web pages)

ZOTERO is currently the recommended Bibliography Manager at Princeton. You can also get help with ENDNOTE.

Direct Export from databases to RefWorks

"Direct export" from databases: Many databases provide a "direct export" function that allows you to add a citation or group of citations you find in a database directly to RefWorks without having to save any files to import manually. To use direct export:

  1. Mark/tag or save to folder the citations you want to add to RefWorks.
  2. Find and click on the Save, Export, Send to, or Download link or icon in the database (these options are different across our databases), then choose the "Direct Export to RefWorks" or "Save to RefWorks" option.
  3. The RefWorks login screen will appear. Login to your RefWorks account. RefWorks will display the message "Importing references, please wait...", and when finished will display "Import completed - [x] reference(s) imported," and a View Last Imported Folder link. You can then move the citation(s) into a folder of your choice in RefWorks.

Save citations from databases to desktop/import saved file to RefWorks

Export from database/Import to RefWorks: To add citations from databases without direct export, you need to save marked/tagged citations from the database to your computer as a text (.txt) file, which you can then import into RefWorks. Records from "desktop" citation management software (such as EndNote) can also be imported into RefWorks in this way.

  1. Mark/tag or save to folder the citations you want to add to RefWorks.
  2. Click the Save, Download, Export, or Send to link (these options are different across our databases).
  3. You will be prompted to save a text file (.txt)--save the file on the computer you are using.
  4. To import your citations into RefWorks, login to RefWorks, and under the References menu select Import. In the window that appears, access the drop-down menu next to Import Filter/Data Source, select the source of the data and then the resource you are importing from. You can also specify which folder in RefWorks you want to add the citations to.
  5. Click the Browse button to select the text file you just saved to your computer and click Import.
  6. RefWorks will display the message "Importing references, please wait...", and when finished will display "Import completed - [x] reference(s) imported," and a View Last Imported Folder link. You can then move the citation(s) into a folder of your choice in RefWorks.

Add citations manually

Add citation manually: you can enter a citation for a reference into RefWorks manually.

  1. Log into your RefWorks account. Pull down the References menu and select "Add New Reference."
  2. Input the information for your reference and save.

Use Findit@PUL to import single citations

Import using SFX : If a SFX button appears next to a citation that you want to add to your RefWorks library, click on the button, and in the window that appears, under the "Additional Services" option, select RefWorks Direct Export Tool.

The RefWorks login screen will appear behind the SFX  window. Login to RefWorks, and the selected citation will be added to your "Last Imported" folder.

Add citations in web pages using RefGrab-It

Using RefGrab-It, you can easily capture and import citations to books and articles in web pages right into your RefWorks account.

The first step is to visit the RefGrab-It download and installation page and follow the instructions according to the browser you like to use (IE or Firefox).

Once you have RefGrab-It installed, it will appear in the links area of your IE toolbar or in the bookmarks toolbar in Firefox.

To use RefGrab-It:

  1. When you are on a web page you want to grab information from, just click on the RefGrab-It button in your toolbar or bookmark list (or IE users can select Favorites, Links, RefGrab-It if you do not have the RefGrab-It button in your toolbar).

  2. You will be brought to the RefWorks temporary results page where the data will be displayed. This page shows you

  • A link back to the web page where the information came from
  • Basic information grabbed from that web page
  • supplemental information that RefGrab-it has found related to the data you are capturin

Check out the Other tab to see any other information about the item(s) RefGrab-It found on the web page, which you can import into RefWorks if you want.

If you want to add the web page information RefGrab-It has found to your RefWorks account, click on the import button.

If you are not logged in to your account, you will be prompted to log-in. Otherwise, your records will appear in the Last Imported folder.

Exporting Records from the Main Catalog

1. Search the Main Catalog and click in the boxes for the titles you wish to import into RefWorks. Scroll to the bottom of the page for print/save/email options and save titles in the "Full record" format.

2. Display saved citation and choose File -->Save As. Save it to your hard drive or "H:" (\\smbserve\userid) drive as text. For hardrive, save as a txt file to your desktop.

3. Switch to RefWorks and import the citations using Import Filter/Data Source = Endeavor Voyager and Database = Princeton University Library (Full Record)
You may specify a folder or use the default "Last Imported" (NOTE: It is highly recommended that you create a new folder, since the "Last Imported" folder will be overwritten the next time you import records.)

4. Browse to find your saved file and click the "Import" button below the dialog box.

5. When you are ready to consult a work , choose "view" on the RefWorks and check the Notes field which will include the library location, call number. The status information will reflect a title's circulation availability at the moment you downloaded the record.