So you want to maintain your reprint file index (or your thesis
bibliography, or your personal library catalogue) on computer instead of
3X5 cards? While it is possible to use MS Access, AskSam, WATFILE,
Filemaker, FoxPro, or dbase, none of these programs make it easy to do
some of the things that can be done with the specifically designed
bibliographic software. Some features that come to mind are:
- Multiple entry fields (1 author or 5, 3 subject headings or 10)
- Multiple record types in the same database (books, journal
articles, pamphlets, videos, . . ., each with a different suite of
fields)
- Many come with "import" software that allow you to import results of
computer searches directly into the correct fields. (This feature
can save hours of rekeying or cutting-and-pasting).
- Most come with predefined formatting tables which format your output
in Turabian, APA, MLA, Vancouver or a number of other styles.
- When asked to compare MS Access to Library Master (ie. a plain vanilla
database vs. spending money for a database optimized for bibliographic
use) the producer
answered.
However you could go to ZDNet (the
PC Magazine people) and find a variety of bibliographic database programs
using MS-Access. One such is EF Pro-References (32-bit) by Eric G.V.
Fookes (It appears the URLs may change so I didn't include a link for this
one)
Prices range from under US$100 to over $400 as well as some
freeware/shareware. Increased prices don't always mean more
functionality.
And remember to ask yourself why you're doing this and what sort of
results you expect from this exercise.
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Caveats
- This note does not intend to recommend, nor does it pretend to
recommend one software package over another.
- I am not associated with any software supplier and I've tried to keep
any biases towards the package I use out of this page
- Make your choice based on what you need, can afford, and comments in
the articles listed in the bibliography.
- Keep in mind that software is regularly rewritten; reviews and
comparisons can be out-dated by the time they are published.
- Take advantage of the opportunity to download and experiment with
sample versions.
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PCs vs. MACs
The majority of these applications are PC based, still some DOS around,
some Windows (if you're running Windows XP there may be compatibility
issues). Several of the packages are also MacIntosh based. In my
searching, I don't recall seeing any that were solely Mac. Some companies
that are listed as having DOS/Windows/Mac versions don't list all of them
on their web pages and price lists; write to them and ask what's up.
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Web Sites
One source of relatively current information are the producer's web sites.
Besides descriptions and prices some also have downloadable demo
versions. Another option is to find if there is a newsgroup for the
software you are interested in and join.
Chorus at UC
their list of
Known Bibliographical Software Packages.
Dana Jacobsen
at ACM seems to have a collection, strongest on BibTeX and also has a set
of links including
A survey of bibliographic tools and
commerial bibliographic tools.
You could also go to ZDNet
(the PC Magazine people) and search for bibliographic
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Making the Database Available for Searching
Having put a lot of work into the database you now want to share it with
others. Your options range from:
- printing off a listing
- This is what most of these programs were designed to do. Indexes
such as author and subject, can be generated, depending on how much you
want to play with it. Not very sexy but fast and functional.
- putting a listing on the web
- Similar to printing on paper but as an HTML document. Not a lot of
sophisticated searching can be done but it would be fine for shorter
lists that don't change frequently.
- getting a networked version of the software
- Some of the programs have networkable search-only versions in which
you maintain the database while others on your network can search but not
modify. Usually distribution is only as far as the extent of the network,
the query language is the same as in the full database program. You will
likely need network programming skills or the assistance of your local
network guru.
- putting a searchable version on the web
- You will be able to distribute the database to a wide audience, or
to a select group. Some of the program producers are developing the
capability within the program or as add-ons. Others are recommending
third-party producers.
You may need to locate the software on the same
machine as is hosting the web-server software.
Query and reporting languages will likely vary.
You will likely need some web programming skills or the assistance of your
local web weaver.
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Bibliography
Chiang KS, Curtis H, Stewart LG. Creating bibliographies for business use. PC Magazine
November 12, 1985;:249-260.
Finder 1.00; Notebook II 1.03, Bibliography 2.01; Inmagic 6.03
Fernandes T, Raucy JL, Black M. REF-ED. Literature of Medicine nd;nv:321.
Gauvin, JF. Posting your references on the web. Database 1998;21(6):
41-47. WebPoster 1.1, Inmagic WebPublisher, WebSuite 1.0, AskSam's
Web Publisher, Showbase Extra 2.1
Grosch A. Library Master: bibliographic and textual database software. The Electronic Library
December 1990;8(6):430-433.
[similar in Online Review 1990 Oct; 14(6): 409-414.]
Library Master (early)
Kebbekus B. Papyrus. Version 6.0. J Am Chem Soc 1990;112(10):4091-4092.
Papyrus 6.0
Lundeen G. Bibliographic software update. Database December 1991;14(6):57-67.
AskSAM 5.0; Notebook II 4.0; Reference Manager 5.02 dms4cite 5.30;
Library Master 1.23; Papyrus 6.1.
Lundeen G. Datafax 4.0: simple text storage and retrieval. The Electronic Library October
1990;8(5):363-364.
Datafax 4.0
Lundeen G. Software for managing personal files. Database June 1989;12(3):36- 48.
bibliog; AskSAM 4.0; Notebook II 3.0; Reference Manager 4.0; Pro-Cite 1.4.
Matthews, Judy. Reference managers. Nature July 29, 1999
Olson, Rebeccca. Reference managers. MacUser January 1997; 13(1)
:48
Poor A. Twixt dBASE and DTP. PC Magazine May 12, 1992;11(10):271-297.
Puglia V. TBMS database power unleashed. PC Magazine November 25, 1986;5(20):
211-230.
Inmagic ; AskSAM; Executive FIler; Instant Recall; Square Note;
Sequiter; Notebook II; Daflo; Mist +; Marcon Plus.
Rabinowitz R. Point of reference. Bibliographic software. PC Magazine October 12,
1993;12(17):269-283?
Raeder A. Library Master for databases and bibliographies. Database October
1991;14(5):67-72.
Library Master 1.2
Sieverts EG, Figdor J, Bakker S, Hofstede M. Software for information storage and retrieval
tested, evaluated and compared. Part 3 - End-user software. The Electronic Library February
1992;10(1):5-19.
Sieverts EG, Hofstede M, Haak Ph.H., Nieuwenhuysen P., Scheepsma G.A.M., Veeger L, Vis
GC. Software for information storage and retrieval tested, evaluated and compared. Part 2 -
classical retrieval systems. The Electronic Library December 1991;9(6):301-318.
Sieverts EG, Hofstede M, Lobbestael G, Oude Groeniger B, Provost F, Sikova P. Software for
information storage and retrieval tested, evaluated and compared. Part 5 - personal information
managers, hypertext and relevance ranking programs. Electronic Library December 1992;10(6):
339-357.
Sieverts EG, Hofstede M, Oude Groeniger B. Software for information storage and retrieval
tested, evaluated and compared. Part 4 - Indexing and full-text retrieval programs. The
Electronic Library August 1992; 10(4):195-208.
Sieverts EG, Hofstede M. Software for information storage and retrieval tested, evaluated and
compared. Part 1 - general introduction. The Electronic Library June 1991;9(3):145-154.
Stigleman S. Bibliography formatting software: a buying guide. Database February
1992;15(1):15-27.
41 programs compared with charts incl. Pro-Cite; Library Master;
Notebook II; Papyrus; ...
Stigleman S. Bibliography formatting software: an update. Database February
1993;16(1):24-37.
Stigleman S. Bibliography formatting software: an updated buying guide. Database December
1994;17(6):53-65.
Tenopir C. Software options for in-house bibliographic databases. Library Journal May 15,
1987;:54-55.
General plus list
Wolff TE. Library Master. Version 1.24. J Am Chem Soc 1992;114(2):796-797.
Library Master 1.24
Wolff TE. Personal bibliographic databases: an industrial scientist's perspective. Database April
1992;15(2):34-40.
bibliog; Library Master 1.24; Notebook II 4.05; Papyrus 6.0.6; Pro-Cite
1.41;( nbCitation; KEDIT 4.00)
Bibliographic Software and the Electronic Library, edited by Terry
Hanson, University of Hertfordshire Press, 1995. ISBN:
0-900458-51-8.
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Other people maintaining such pages
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Standards for Bibliographic References (Style Manuals)
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Other stuff dumped in - so far unsorted
Sometimes there will be a pile of unsorted stuff here sometimes not.
Since I've build an application that is a personal bibliographic
references management program for PDA, I would like to know your opinion
about it, in case you have a PDA based on ARM chip and with PocketPC
operating system.
The name of the application is PocketKnowledge, and you can found it in
www.download.com.
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Douglas Morton
Last Modified
Dec. 3, 2006