RefWorks: Getting Started at Colgate
What is RefWorks?
RefWorks is a service offered by the Colgate University Libraries to all Colgate students, faculty and staff.
It is a Web-based bibliography and database manager that allows you to create your own personal database by importing references from text files or online databases, including Colgate’s Library Catalog. You can use these references in writing papers and automatically format the bibliography in seconds.
RefWorks enables you to:
- Organize your research
- Include citations while you write your paper
- Build a bibliography in a variety of formats
- Import references from many data sources
- Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)
The Colgate Libraries have a site license to RefWorks, and there is no cost to individual Colgate users. To register for your account you must be logged in to the Colgate network. Once registered, you can use the account from anywhere in the world. Please use your Colgate University email address when registering.
As a Web-based product, RefWorks is available across various platforms including Windows, Mac, Unix, etc. Your RefWorks databases are stored on the Web and can be accessed by you from anywhere you can access the Web. If accessing RefWorks from outside the campus network, you may be prompted for a group code as well as your ID and Password. You can get the group code for Colgate University from Reference if needed.
Getting Started
You can log on to RefWorks from the library homepage. The first time you log on you'll need to set up a RefWorks account.
Once you've registered, RefWorks will send you an email confirming your ID and Password. You can now access RefWorks from either on campus or elsewhere.
To learn to use RefWorks, once registered, log in and click on the Tutorial link that appears in the RefWorks banner at the top of the page.
Creating A RefWorks Database
To save citations into RefWorks, you must first open your RefWorks account. There are four ways that you can save citations into RefWorks:
(1) direct import from databases
(2) importing data from saved text files
(3) manually entering references
(4) using a RefWorks plug-in called RefGrab-IT (not supported by the Library)
It is always a good idea to review the records after importing them as, on occasion, data will map inaccurately and will be in an incorrect format - author will not be last name first - or into the "wrong" field - journal title will be in the notes field. Also, users should review the REF TYPE of each record since the formating in citations or bibliographies will not be correct unless the matching REF TYPE has been selected.
Direct Import from Databases
The following database providers allow you to export data directly from the database to RefWorks:
Instructions for each are found by selecting the link.
- Colgate University Libraries Classic or Encore Catalog
- CSA (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)
- EBSCOhost
- H.W. Wilson
- ISI Web of Knowledge (Science, Social Science, Arts and Humanities Citation Indexes, Biological Abstracts)
- Johns Hopkins
- Jstor
- OCLC FirstSearch
- Proquest
Importing Data from Saved Text Files
References can be imported into RefWorks from a text file by saving the references and then using the IMPORT feature in RefWorks. To make it easy to find the file, you may want to save it on the Desktop.
Save data to text files before importing to RefWorks when using the following databases:
Manually entering the references into RefWorks
When using the following providers, you will need to manually enter the references into RefWorks:
- Africabib.org
- Chadwyck-Healey
- GaleGroup
- National Agricultural Library
- Oxford University Press (some Oxford resources offer reference transfer, others do not)
RefGrab-IT to transfer references from web pages into RefWorks
While not installed on Colgate computers, RefWorks provides a tool called RefGrab-IT which can be used on personal computers to transfer information from a web page into RefWorks. RefGrab-It looks for information on web pages and if an ISBN number, PubMed ID or DOI exist on the web page, RefGrab-It will automatically search various web resources to get supplemental information that may be of interest to you.
Support for this feature is currently available only through the RefWorks Tech Support at 775 327-4105 or by email at RS-RWsupport@refworks-cos.com.