Endnote and RefWorks are bibliographic managers which enable you to create a searchable databases, or "libraries," from references you find in online catalogs, indexes, etc. These programs also interact with your Microsoft Word documents to automatically format your references and create a footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies in any citation style you choose.
Princeton users are eligible to sign up for a Refworks account at http://www.refworks.com/. Zotero is an open-access browser plug-in availble at zotero.org and Mendeley is a freely available download at mendeley.com.
There are a few differences between the programs: Refworks is easier to use than EndNote, and is rendered via the internet (rather than needing to be installed), making it fully "portable." Updates to the program are served to the user automatically, since it is web-based. It is also good for group work since members of the group can have access to the same account/files. Endnote is a well-established and very robust program, and ideal for a dissertation or book- level document. Endnote must be installed on your computer, and updates (and patches) must be obtained from the company. For further comparison, see the information in this research guide.
