EndNote 7 and 8

The following recommendations are intended to guide EndNote users in the Massey environment:

• Unless EndNote 8 is specifically requested, EndNote 7 should be the version sold to new purchasers, particularly to students.
• EndNote 8.02 should be the preferred version for anyone wishing to include Unicode characters, such as the macron in Maori words or non-Roman scripts, in their records.
• Otherwise, anyone who has purchased EndNote 8 and has not begun to store records should seriously consider changing to EndNote 7.
• Anyone who has begun using EndNote 8 should upgrade to EndNote 8.02, even if there are no immediately apparent problems.

EndNote users and technical support staff should note that while EndNote is distributed by ITS, functional support of the software and training are provided by the Library.

When EndNote 8 was released in mid 2004 it soon became apparent that it contained major flaws and that it had gone on sale without thorough beta testing. Not only was the software unstable and prone to crashing and inexplicable error messages, it was faulty in some quite important areas of functionality as well. Some of these problems would not have been apparent to a user until they tried to make use of a particular feature.

Because of these faults, which were the cause of considerable alarmed discussion among EndNote users worldwide, the Library contacted ITS and asked that they continue to sell EndNote 7 to purchasers rather than EndNote 8. This was contrary to the standard ITS policy of selling the latest version of the software they offer but it was agreed that this was a somewhat unusual case and that they would continue to offer EndNote 7 unless the later version was specifically requested. By this time, however, a considerable number of copies of version 8 had been installed around the university. EndNote 7 continues to be the Massey “official version” and is installed in the Student Computing Labs and the Library Information Commons. It is worth noting that many universities still support EndNote 6 as their preferred version.

Because EndNote 8 supports Unicode it is not backwardly compatible with earlier versions. This means that while it will open database files (known as libraries) from earlier versions, any library created in version 8 cannot be accessed by EndNote 7 or earlier versions. This is an important consideration for anyone who might want to work in the Student Computing Lab or Library Information Commons environments or share libraries with colleagues. Essentially the decision to use EndNote 8 to store information is an irreversible one. The advantage of Unicode is that it allows for a much enlarged character set, including macrons and non-Roman scripts.

Fortunately a new release of the software, EndNote 8.02, appears to have corrected most of the problems and can be considered a workable piece of software, with some improvements over the earlier version. However, these are generally so minor that unless the use of alternative character sets, such as Chinese characters or Maori vowels with macrons, is required there is no particular benefit to be gained from it.

Journal Citation Reports and More

In December we offered a number of introductory sessions on Journal Citation Reports which were well attended and led to some lively discussion on the various methods of measuring "publication impacts". At the time we agreed to offer a further session for those who had been unable to attend and in light of the discussion we have broadened it to cover the following topics:

•Assessment of journal standing – Journal Citation Reports
•Where is material on my research area published?
•Which databases index this journal?
•Where do the top researchers in my field publish?
•Has my article or book been cited?
•Has my book been reviewed?

The session will be held in the Library Training Room at 11 am next Friday 18 February.

EndNote Classes Semester One

The Library will presenting two-hour classes on the use of EndNote on the following dates

Thursday 24 Feb., 9.00am ( EndP2402)

Wednesday 2 Mar., 12.00am (EndP0203)

Wednesday 16 Mar., 12.00am (EndP1603)

Booking is handled through ITS - http://its-intra.massey.ac.nz/training/Course_Registration_Turitea.shtml

Use the course codes shown above. There is no charge for EndNote training through the Library.

These classes cover basic aspects of EndNote use including downloading from databases and Cite-While-You-Write. If the times don't suit but you would like an EndNote class for a group of four or more staff or students get in touch with Bruce White or Rae Gendall on extension 7814 and we will arrange a session.

JAMA Online

JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) is now available online through the Library catalogue.

JAMA

All electronic titles can be accessed through a Journal Search on the Library Catalogue.