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Literature Reviews Made Easy

Like most things in life, things get a whole lot easier when you have the right tools at your disposal! In the past, literature reviews involved hours of tracking down footnotes(which inevitably were poorly cited), trying to remember where you put that post-it note, and when you got all your citations herded together, trying to figure out how in the world APA is suppose to be formatted. Now, using a combination of tools you can not only find all the articles that cite your ideal source with a click of the mouse, but you can import them into Endnote without ever leaving your search page!

In this workshop we will look at 4 main areas: Using Endnote, Subscription Databases, Google Scholar, and MyEndnoteWeb.com.

Endnote

  • Getting Started
    1. Create A new Endnote Library
    2. Set up your connection files
      • Tools >> Connect >> Connect... (NOTE: in Endnote X.1 Tools >> Online Search)
      • Choose databases you use frequently -- NOTE: Not all of the connections work for us at IU, you should be able to connect to IUCat, World Cat (OCLC), EBSCO Databases and Library of Congress. With most other databases it will be easier to work in the database and import the records.
    3. Set up your style selections
      • Edit >> Output Styles >> Open Style Manager
      • Find >> By Name >> (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) NOTE: If you are preparing an article for a specific Journal, be sure to check for the journal in the styles menu, this may save you valuable editing time.
  • Getting References into Your Library
    1. Using Connection Files
      • Tools >> Connect >> **Database of Choice ** (if the database you would like to search is not in the short list, repeat step 2 under "Getting Started")
      • A dialog may pop up for a user name and password -- LEAVE EVERYTHING BLANK! -- just hit "OK"
      • Begin searching as you would in the database
      • When results are found, a "Confirm remote search" dialog will appear, if you would like to see all of the results, just hit "OK," if there are too many results you can enter how many results to download, or you may want to cancel and refine your search.
      • Select the referenced you would like to copy to your library, this may be done by using the shift key to highlight a block of references, or using the control key to select multiple non sequential references.
      • In the upper right hand corner, next to the red "Endnote" logo in a black box is a button that says "Copy $ References To" click this button to choose which Endnote library you would like to save the references to. You can also create a new library at this time. If you do not do this step, and close the search results you will loose all of your results.
    2. Importing References from Another Source
      • Check to see if Direct Export is available, this is the best option
      • If not:
        1. Save Results as a Text File
        2. In Endnote: File >> Import
        3. Choose file to import
        4. Choose Import Option -- Note: if you are importing from a subscription database select Other Filters... and choose the database the file is from, be sure that the file you choose is also from the right vendor. For example, PsychInfo is provided by EBSCO and CSA.
        5. Choose if you would like to import duplicates into your library, into a separate file, or not at all.
        6. Leave "Text Translation" on "No Translation"
        7. Click "Import"
        8. IF THIS DOES NOT WORK: Drag the text file into Endnote to start the dialog, it will ask you which library you would like to import into, then continue with the previous steps.
  • Managing References
    • You may notice that only the references you last imported are showing. To see all of your references in that library go to: References >> Show All OR hit Ctrl + M
    • If you would like to check your library for Duplicates go to: References >> Find Duplicates. This will highlight one copy of each duplicate. If you would like to get rid of them, just right click and select "Delete References."
  • Exporting References to a Bibliography
    • Highlight the references from your library you would like to export
    • From the Drop-Down Menu in the Upper Middle part of the screen, select which style you would like your references to be in
    • File >> Export
    • Choose a name for your file, and change the file type to .rtf (Rich Text)

Subscription Databases

  • If you find yourself frequently using the same database or multiple databases from the same vendor, you will want to set up a free personal account for that vendor
  • Take advantage of the alert features offered by databases, it will make it nearly effortless to keep on top of current research in your topic area
  • Direct export can be tricky with Endnote, they don't always work, so if it doesn't work, be sure to try saving your results as a text file and importing them as described above.
  • For best results when searching in databases, always use the controlled vocabulary
  • For especially complex searches it may be helpful to diagram your search first, you could use this worksheet or you use one of the free mind mapping sights like http://www.mindmeister.com

Google Scholar

  • Setting Your Preferences
    • On Campus, or when using the VPN your "Library Links" will default to IU and WorldCat. You may want to set this up at home as well.
    • Set your "Bibliography Mangager" to show links to import into Endnote
    • If you want to limit results, search for pages only in English, (or the language of your choice) however, you may miss results because the search engine cannot determine which language an article is in.
  • Advanced Search
    • Google Scholar works best when searches are built from the Advanced Search Screen
    • You may find it helpful to limit your search by "Subject Area" particularly if your terms are used in specific ways depending on which field is using them
    • Title searches can be helpful when searching for core articles
  • Search Results
    • "IULink" will allow you to see if you have access to a result through IU (NOTE: if you are on campus, or using the vpn, you can click on the result and be taken directly to the article if we have electronic access)
    • "All $ versions" allows you to access all of the versions of the result indexed, if you cannot access the original result, try here to find a version IU has access to.
    • "Cited By" links to all idexed articles that cite this article -- very cool! (Also useful if you need to compile your own citations for tenure)
    • "Related articles" will give you a list of results that have similar keywords
    • "Import to Endnote" this give you a direct import into Endnote

MyEndnoteWeb.com

  • The main use of MyEndnoteWeb.com for us is to allow users to easily share libraries, and allow you to work in multiple places without having to worry about creating multiple libraries.
  • Access this service at http://www.myendnoteweb.com
  • Be sure to set up your account with your IU email address for easy sharing
  • To transfer records between your desktop library and your online library, go to your desktop version of Endnote, then Tools >> Transfer References
  • To create new "groups" (equivalent to libraries) go to the "Organize" tab and select "New Group"
  • To Share libraries go to the "Organize" tab and select the "Share Group" button next to the name of the folder you would like to share, then enter the email address that the user set up their account with in the dialog box