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Contents
User interface, Multi-lingual support, entering citations, generating the bibliography, Entering references, dates, record sub-sets, Searching, Exporting, Z39.50 searching, Conclusions
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In the
last review of Reference Manager it was a capable performer but lacked
some of the features of the top product Procite. This release has added a few new features - notably Z39.50 searching, and plugged some of the gaps but some of the idiosyncrasies remain.
The user interface The product retains most of the legacy look and feel of the last
versions. It has added some features like drag and drop of records from one database to another - very useful when re-arranging or creating a new database from another. Multiple
databases can be opened and these are clearly displayed via a tabs within a single Window. This window is split so that the current reference is above the list. Normally the references and
list are held together but you can "detach" a reference by double clicking if you need to view more than one reference at a time. Overall, the interface works well and is easy to understand.
Drop down combo boxes appear when entering data from the reference lists or other list type fields.
Multi-Lingual support The sorting for different languages is now much improved - you
can choose either Windows Regional or a special International Sort option which copes with 13 language variations - but you still cannot set sorting to ignore initial words or symbols in titles. In
Reference Manager "A", "An" and "The" are all significant. Even the variant quotation marks are significant so that the first title in the sample database is 'Pop' goes the dolphin, followed by "Flipper's" captive dolphin. (single quotes file before double!) Then come numbers and then the
works beginning with the article "A".
Entering citations Entering citations is simple although there is no drag and drop from a
search to the document - which means your cursor has to be in the correct place before you select an item. However, there have been several productivity improvements to Reference
Manager. You can now see the full reference in the document rather than just the ID. Selecting from a search is easy - a search window pops up within the Word Window and you can search
and select without losing site  of the document. Up to 10 previous searches are retained and the
references can be sorted on the fly before a selection is made.
Generating the bibliography has been improved over version 8 via the inclusion of more than 300 output formats and the option to have subsequent citations of the same title
abbreviated.
Entering and maintaining references into the database is intuitive enough with a screen display that mimics an index card look. Each database uses a different, pale,
background colour and is tabbed within the main window which makes working with several databases simultaneously easier and tidier than EndNote.
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Edit screen showing coloured “card” look |
The drop downs are easy to use and new entries for the reference lists (controlled terms for periodical title, authors and keywords) can
be entered directly. However, I found it difficult to enter a new author without getting an existing one selected from the "pop-up" list. Text fields have been extended and there is
now no practical limit on length.
A very nice new feature is a "phrase" list - you can build a list of commonly used phrases and
insert them anywhere (not authors, periodicals or keywords) in the record by picking from the list. This is ideal for long, complicated, oft
repeated text strings - or for fields like publisher which are not covered by the main reference lists.
Individual records can be copied, duplicated and moved between databases.
There is a new useful "position Window" which opens when scrolling through the database - it
gives the first few letters of a record so you know the position you have reached within a long bibliography without losing your original place.
Dates - After all the problems with Y2K dates, I explored the date field a little.
Reference manager is limited to 4 digit years, so it works fine with dates anywhere between 9999BC and 9999AD but not beyond.
Working efficiently with a sub-sets There are no major new features in working with record sub-sets - you can mark records for insertion into a document and for printing and
can quite easily copy records to a temporary database to work with and the drag and drop makes things easier too.
Searching The searching interface has not changed since version 8. It remains the least intuitive of the search interfaces on PBMs. Once you are
used to it however, the power is useful - particularly the ability to search across multiple databases- a unique feature - and being able to save complex search statements for later use.
Export formats have been improved with comma delimited and tagged options added -
but there is still no MARC export which means that librarians wishing to load records to a ILS must convert to MARC as an intermediate step - using something like Data Magician.
Z39.50 internet searching is the major addition this version of Reference Manager. This is realised via the inclusion of BookWhere's Z39.50 search engine. Although not the full
version, it is well integrated and retains the ability to load a wide variety of formats including UKMARC (giving it a slight edge over EndNote) as well as UNIMARC, SUTRS, CANMARC and USMARC.
This version of Reference manager has many improvements over the last release and moves it
up the scale somewhat. The main functional addition is the Z39.50 searching which has been well integrated with the product. The deficiencies are few but niggling - like the filing order problem
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