Yale University Library

EndNote Workshop


Libraries and References | Adding Images and Links | Output Styles | Adding Citations from Databases
Organizing References in Groups | Searching and Creating a Bibliography | Writing a Paper | EndNote Links

What is EndNote?

EndNote is a database program for organizing references. With EndNote you can:
  • Transfer groups of references retrieved from literature searches into your EndNote database.
  • Annotate, sort and search your references.
  • Create bibliographies automatically in your word processor.
  • Organize references with Groups.
  • Organize images and document files (e.g., PDF files) and include hot links to references available on the Web.

Libraries and References

References are kept in libraries. You can create multiple libraries as needed to separate references for various projects. EndNote offers a variety of reference types (i.e., journal article, book, thesis).

For this demonstration we will create a new library. Open EndNote and select "Create a new EndNote library."

From the References menu, select New Reference. Choose the desired reference type from the menu.

Add the following book reference to the new library. Use the TAB key to move to the next field.

Andrew J. Beattie and Paul Ehrlich
Wild Solutions
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.

Adding Images and Document Links

EndNote helps you organize images and files as well as references. Three reference types are available specifically for graphics and files: Figure, Chart and Equation. Image fields can also be added to other reference types.

From the References menu, select New Reference. Choose the reference type Figure.

Add the following image information:

Created by: Smith, Jane
Title: Cockatiel Crest Feathering
Caption: Cockatiel Crest Feathering
Year: 2007

From the References menu, select Figure and Attach Figure...

Navigate to the Program Files\ EndNote\Examples folder and choose Feather2.bmp.

You can also link a PDF file on your computer to a record in EndNote. From the References menu, select File Attachments and Attach File ... By default EndNote will copy this file to a data folder that is part of your EndNote library.

Output Styles

EndNote allows you to choose from a variety of citation styles (i.e., APA, MLA, Chicago) in which to display citations and format your bibliography.

From the Edit menu, choose Output Styles and then select Open Style Manager... to see available citation styles. Place a check in the box next to those styles you want to use. You can preview the style by selecting "Style Preview" from the pull down menu in the lower section of the window.

From the Library window, you can preview your references in a style by selecting a reference and clicking "Show Preview" at the bottom right.

Adding Citations from Literature Databases

References retrieved from online searches can be copied into your EndNote library in three ways:
  • Use the Direct Export feature of a database (when available) to copy citations to EndNote.
  • Use Import to download references into EndNote
  • Use Online Search to search an online database from within EndNote.

The library's help page provides directions for transferring references from specific Yale databases.

Direct Export

Some databases allow you to copy citations directly into an EndNote library. This feature is not available for all databases, but it is becoming more common as EndNote increases in popularity.

Example: Connect to Web of Science

Perform your search and mark citations you want to copy to EndNote. On the menu on the right under "Output Records" click "Export to Reference Software."

Importing References

Search a database and save references to a file in a EndNote-friendly format (download instructions are often available with the filter). You will then use an import filter to add the references to your EndNote library.

From the File menu, choose Import. Select the file of downloaded references and the corresponding EndNote import filter.

Online Searching

You can search some online databases from EndNote. These databases include library catalogs and PubMed.

From the Tools menu, choose Online Search. Choose New Search to display a list of databases. Select a database to search. If you are asked to enter a password, try the Direct Export or Import option above.

Organizing References in Groups

You can organize your references by putting them into Groups. From the Groups menu, select Create Group.

To add references to a group, select one or more references from the library window and from the Groups menu, select Add References To and choose an existing group or create a new one. You can also drag and drop references into the group.

Searching and Creating a Bibliography

You can search for references within a library. From the References menu, select Search.

You can create and print a bibliography: Select the references you want to print and the output style. From the File menu, select Print.

To copy a formatted bibliography to Word, you can select references and, from the Edit menu, select Copy Formatted and paste to a Word document. As an alternative, you can select the references and drag/drop them into a Word document while holding the CTRL key.

Using EndNote While Writing a Paper

EndNote allows you to create bibliographies automatically in your word processor. You can insert citations and format bibliographies using EndNote from within Word. When you install the program, EndNote commands will appear in Word. Note: the following directions are for Word 2007.

From Word, position your cursor where you want to insert a citation. Select EndNote X3 and Insert Citation.

If your output style requires footnotes and a bibliography, go to Word's References menu, select Insert Footnote and insert the citation as a footnote.

To add a cited page number, go to EndNote X3 and select Edit Citation(s).

To insert figures, pull down the menu for Insert Citation and select Find Figure...

To change the output style, select EndNote X3 and select another style from the menu.

EndNote Links


Send comments to Andy.Shimp@yale.edu
This file is located at http://www.library.yale.edu/endnote/class.html