Information management tools, such as EndNote Web and RefWorks, are citation managers that allow you to:

• store your bibliographic citations
• automatically import citations from databases or websites, or manually create records
• search selected open access databases such as PubMed or the UW Library Catalog directly from within your account
• check for duplicate records
• share groups of citations with colleagues
• automatically insert in text citations in Word files (requires installing utility program, available after registering for account)
• automatically create and format bibliographies and papers in the style of your choice
• format theses and dissertations

Why use web-based citation managers?

• free to current UW faculty, staff, and students
• no storage space on your or your collaborators' desktop computers required
• allows online collaborators to work with the same records

Limitations of web-based citation managers:

• limited or no file attachment capabilities
• not as easy to use offline
• does not work with word processors other than Microsoft Word

What is EndNote Web?

• A web-based program that allows you to store, edit, and manage up to 10,000 citations.
• Citations from many databases may be imported into your online account directly or from saved files of citations.
• Works with Microsoft Word (requires free Cite While You Write plug-in) to allow you to automatically create in-text citations and bibliographies in a choice of publishing styles.
• Allows online sharing of EndNote Web folders of citations for collaborative projects.

There are other information management resources, such as Zotero or Mendeley.

• Zotero is a Firefox add-on that collects, manages, and cites research sources. It's easy to use, accessible within your web browser where you do your work, and best of all it's free. Zotero allows you to attach PDFs, notes and images to your citations, organize them into collections for different projects, and create bibliographies using Word or OpenOffice. Many consider it is easier to use than EndNote or RefWorks and surprisingly powerful.

• Mendeley is a web application that helps you collect, manage, and cite research sources. It's easy to use, accessible within your web browser and/or on your desktop, and best of all it's free. Mendeley allows you to organize, as well as annotate and highlight PDFs, add to your citations, organize them into collections for different projects, and create bibliographies using Word or OpenOffice. It is available to use in any web browser, unlike Zotero, and surprisingly powerful. Mendelely also has a downloadable desktop application for your Mendeley library.