Getting Started With RefWorks

Do you dread writing the bibliography or "works cited" section of your research papers and incorporating proper citations into your writing? The Libraries are offering a wonderful new tool to help you manage and format the citations for your papers. You can export citations from many databases directly into RefWorks, and then format the citations into bibliographies using RefWorks' hundreds of available output styles. By mastering this tool, you can save yourself much time and effort!

To get started, your first step is to create an individual account in RefWorks. To do this:
Go to www.clarion.edu/library

Select “RefWorks” from the “Services and Collections” menu. (If you are accessing RefWorks from off-campus, you will be prompted to log in at the Keystone Library Network PASS (Patron Authentication System) screen. See http://www.clarion.edu/library/IDHelp.htm for login help.)

Then, at the “RefWorks Login Center” screen, click on “Sign Up for an Individual Account” and follow the on-screen prompts to create your account. In the top-right section of the login center screen, there is a link to a tutorial. It is strongly recommended that you take the time to go through the various tutorial sections. They will familiarize you with the many features of RefWorks and allow you to learn how to use the service to its best advantage.

Now that you’ve created your account, you can begin exporting citations to RefWorks as you search various periodical databases and online catalogs. Unfortunately, not ALL databases offer an option to export citations directly to RefWorks, but most do. Look for an option to export citations to RefWorks in the same area as you typically access options to print, e-mail, or save citations. (You can also manually type references into RefWorks.) This is an example of the export option in the databases accessible via EBSCOHost:

After you select the database option to export citations to RefWorks, you will be prompted to log into RefWorks using the individual account login information that you created in step #3 above. (Make sure you have set your browser to allow pop-ups.) If you are exporting citations using an off-campus computer or from a non-registered IP address, you will have a multi-step login process:

You MAY first be prompted to log in at the PASS screen as in step #2 above.

You MAY ALSO be prompted to supply the RefWorks “group code” for Clarion University, identifying you as a Clarion user. This code was e-mailed to you when you created your individual account.

Finally, you will have to log in using the individual logon you created in step #3 above.After your citations are imported to RefWorks, you have a wealth of options available for managing them. You can organize them in folders, sort them in various ways, and format them into bibliographies in many output styles. You can even use the RefWorks Write-N-Cite utility feature to write your paper with automatic in-text citations. (You must download this utility to work in concert with MS Word on your computer.) Taking a bit of time now to familiarize yourself with this great product will save you loads of time later on when all of your papers are due!

Library Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 21

http://www.clarion.edu/library/news/index.htm