This week’s Resource of the Week is RefWorks.

RefWorks is a web-based tool that is free to use for undergraduates and taught postgraduates. It will help you to capture, save and organise references, create bibliographies in a range of difference styles that can be used in a range of Word processing tools. You can access it on- and off-campus, from any PC which has internet access.

How do I access it?

1. Go to the Citing and Referencing Tab on your Subject Guide OR the Citing and Referencing Guide.
2. Click on the RefWorks Link.
3. Create your account:

When you first use RefWorks you will need to register. From off campus you may be required to enter a Group Code which is RWRoyalH. Then fill in your registration details as follows:

1. Your name
2. Your email address
3. Choose your login name and password (we recommend using your RHUL IT username e.g. abcd123)
4. Select your user type (e.g. undergraduate)
5. Select your focus area (e.g. humanities)
6. Select ‘register’ to finish

Using RefWorks

• You can import information on resources from databases like Library Search, JSTOR, Science Direct and many others. Most databases will have an export to RefWorks option, for websites you can use the Ref-GrabIt tool.
• RefWorks creates a database of your references and you can search it, and organise it into Folders.
•  Use RefWorks to generate an automatic bibliography
  
• You can also insert citations and reference directly into your assignment using the Write and Cite tool for Word

Further Help

• Training sessions run throughout the year. The next session is on Friday 24th February at 13:10-13:50, Computer Centre, PC Lab 5
• Email library@rhul.ac.uk, or contact your Information Consultant
• Visit the RefWorks You Tube Channel for lots of video tutorials

You may have seen our recent Twitter polls that asked users which referencing tool they used. The results are in!

Poll 1                                                                                                                               Poll 2
EndNote 0%                                                                            Cite This For Me 18%
Mendeley 8%                                                                                                RefMe 29%
RefWorks 92%                                                                                              Other 14%
Zotero 0%                                                                                                          None 39%

From these quick polls we can see that RefWorks is popular among our students, a number of students have investigated other referencing tools and some students don’t use any. So what are referencing tools, and why are they useful?

What are referencing tools?

These are different types of software that allow you to store your references in one central place so you can easily access them again and find the referencing information you need for your work. They can also help you with creating your in text references, reference list and bibliography.

Some of these tools are only available for students and staff at Royal Holloway, such as RefWorks and EndNote. The others listed are freely available on the web.

Why use a referencing tool?

Referencing tools have a number of advantages which make them really useful for all students and researchers to use.

One of the main advantages is the ability to organise your references in one place. When writing an assignment or conducting some research you will read many different sources, it can be quite difficult to manage all of these and to remember where you found them! A referencing tool will allow you to save the details of different sources and you can also create folders to organise your references by topic. These tools will also provide links to the original source so you access it quickly and easily, some even let you save PDF documents within the software.

Another big advantage is the referencing support these tools provide. They will allow users to export bibliographies and reference lists into a number of different referencing styles. Some of these tools will also connect with Word and Google Docs, meaning you can quickly insert references, bibliographies and reference lists as you are working. However it is always important to check these generated references against the guidance outlined by your department.

The different tools available

Freely Available                                                                Available for members
on the web                                                                                      of Royal Holloway

Zotero                                                                                                                  RefWorks
RefME                                                                                                                     EndNote
BibSonomy
JabRef
Mendeley
CiteULike
CiteFast
Cite This For Me

Found out more about these tools by visiting our Referencing, Citing and Structuring Bibliographies: Referencing Tools Subject Guide: libguides.rhul.ac.uk/referencing

If you would like to learn more about these tools or learn how to use them contact your information consultant  libguides.rhul.ac.uk/informationconsultants