Organizing Your Research: RefWorks Personal Citation Manager

Are you having trouble keeping track of journal articles, books, Web sites, and other resources you've found while doing research for a paper? Get to know RefWorks, a Web-based personal database provided by the BC Libraries that lets you collect and organize citations and access them from any computer with a Web connection. RefWorks will even generate a bibliography of references, using APA, MLA, or another format that you select.

Key functions of RefWorks include:

• *Importing references from journal databases such as Communication Abstracts, Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC), and others. (Here's how to import from Communication Abstracts and CMMC.)
  
• * Direct searching and importing of records from Quest, the BC Libraries Catalog.
  
• * Organizing your references into folders according to your topics of interest or for particular assignments or projects.
  
• * Inserting references into the body of your research paper (using an add-on called Write-N-Cite).
  
• * Generating a formatted references page or bibliography from your imported citations.

To learn how to sign up for a RefWorks account (there is no cost for BC students, faculty, and staff), go to the RefWorks tutorial on the library Web site. This tutorial also explains how to import references – note that the process varies by database – and other features.

Hands-on 30-minute introductions to RefWorks are being offered by library staff this Tuesday at 10 am and Thursday at 4 pm. But if I hear from enough of you, I'll do a special hands-on session just for Comm majors.

Let me know if you're interested.