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Old 01-06-2010, 15:40   #7
nmap
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 2,760
I use Endnote 12 and Acrobat 9 pro.

Typing citations is only one issue - keeping everything together is, for me at least, much more important. I have a PDF of every document, all marked up so I can find the salient points easily. I have notes and codes that make searching references lightning quick. And subdividing a mass of references is, for me at least, easier with the software.

For example - I might have the keyword LOC for locus of control. I can pull up all the references with that keyword and double check some connection I want to examine.

I can also store lots of documents for each file entry. So I might have a PDF of a paper, an image of a test instrument (like the LOC questionnaire, a PDF of the test instrument, and a Word version, all in the same spot.

I don't notice reference export capability in the links you mention - however, on some of the databases I use such as ProQuest, one can mark documents and automatically export the necessary information directly to Endnote. BTW - I believe ProQuest has some history publications, if you haven't used it.

Using footnotes from other papers is nice - I found some dissertations on the subject I'm working on, then poached their citations shamelessly. The problem is, they aren't fine-grained enough in all cases. Let's suppose you have 20 references on some small issue - say, student learning in online environments in higher education. But wouldn't it be nice to break those into 4 or 5 logical pieces? RefViz lets one do exactly that. No, it isn't perfect - but as a first run, it works pretty well.

I didn't really need the pro version - but, from time to time, I want to redact some material. I can do that with Pro. In addition, the 9 version does an outstanding job of converting PDF images to searchable text. That approaches must-have status for me.

I haven't tried Bridge. In essence, I try to use Endnote and search capabilities so I don't need to work my way through lots of PDFs. YMMV.

Oh, and there is one other piece of software...my secret weapon, if you will...Dragon naturally speaking. I talk to the computer, it transcribes the material, and life is good. I can use all the nice, big 50-cent words and not have to type them.

BTW - an old CS (computer science) rule of thumb is to avoid having more than 8 files in a folder. If you get above that number, consider sub-folders. It makes finding things quite a lot easier...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigaba View Post
The answer to your question is no. I've not upgraded to the most recent version of Endnote nor have I installed the versions that I have onto this machine.
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