The following is a summary of results of a survey posted to this listserv and several other listservs. Jan-Mar. 1995

Many thanks to everyone who responded.

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'Cibbarelli's Surveys'

USER RATINGS OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE


This User Ratings survey focuses on bibliographic citation management software. Bibliographic citation management software is used to manage databases of citations to information. The databases are designed to produce reports which adhere to standard bibliographic styles, such as Turabian, Chicago Manual of Style, MLA Style sheet, etc.

Software for multiple types of computers is included, e.g., DOS, Windows, Macintosh, and VAX.

CIBBARELLI'S SURVEYS: USER RATINGS articles traditionally include Training as a category to be surveyed. Although the survey forms included this category, only about 30% of the responses provided ratings. Most respondents indicated they had no opportunity to evaluate this service. Therefore, the category, Training, has been deleted from this survey article. Most of these packages are inexpensive (less than $500), so formal training is rarely included in the purchase price.

The results are shown on the following charts. The complete article which includes comments made by survey respondents will be published in a forthcoming issue of _Computers in Libraries_.

Originally these survey results were planned for publication in _Information Today_. However, with Learned Information's recent purchase of _Computers in Libraries_ , the Cibbarelli's Surveys articles are returning to _Computers in Libraries_. There will be an overlap period of a couple of months as the DOS/Windows IOLS survey and the DEC VAX/VMS survey are published in _Information Today_.

Survey Results:

Total All Responses

Ave     High    Low      Category
7.8    10 (14)    2 (1)         Documentation
6.2    10 (40)    3 (4)         Service/support
8.3    10 (31)    1 (1)         Product reliability
8.3    10 (38)    2 (1)         Product capabilities
7.8    10 (18)    3 (5)         Ease of use
8.6    10 (50)    2 (1)         Vendor's integrity
8.2    10 (30)    1 (1)         Overall satisfaction
Total number of respondents for all software = 176

The following charts are the averaged responses for those bibliographic citation management software packages for which at least four responses were received. Only one or two responses were received for several packages. For those, no chart is prepared nor statistics provided since the sample is too small to be considered representative.

Thanks are extended to all who participated in the surveys.


EndNote Plus

Ave     High    Low      Category
8.1    10 (  6)    2 (1)         Documentation
8.9    10 (25)    5 (1)         Service/support
8.8    10 (23)    3 (1)         Product reliability
8.5    10 (22)    3 (1)         Product capabilities
8.1    10 (12)    3 (2)         Ease of use
8.8    10 (26)    5 (2)         Vendor's integrity
8.7    10 (20)    1 (1)         Overall satisfaction
Total number of respondents for all software = 74

For more information about EndNote and EndLink contact:

Niles and Associates, Inc.
800 Jones Street
Berkeley, CA 94710 510 559-8592
510-559-8683, fax
nilesinc@well.sf.ca.us
listserv: endnote@ucsbvm.ucsb.edu
news: bit.listserv.endnote
gopher: magic.ucsb.edu
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IBID

Ave     High    Low      Category
7.0     9 (2)    4 (1)         Documentation
6.4     7 (2)    3 (1)         Service/support
7.6    10 (1)    4 (1)         Product reliability
9.6    10 (4)    8 (1)         Product capabilities
9.0    10 (2)    8 (2)         Ease of use
7.8    10 (1)    3 (1)         Vendor's integrity
8.8    10 (1)    8 (1)         Overall satisfaction
Total number of respondents for all software = 5

For more information about NotaBene and Ibid contact:

The Technology Group, Inc.
36 South Charles Street, Suite 2200
Baltimore, MD 21201
410 576-2040
410 576-1968 - fax
listserv: notabene@Taunivm.bitnet
news: bit.listserv.notabene
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Library Master

Ave     High    Low      Category
7.9    10 (3)    4 (2)         Documentation
8.1    10 (4)    3 (1)         Service/support
8.0    10 (2)    4 (1)         Product reliability
8.4    10 (2)    6 (2)         Product capabilities
7.6    10 (1)    4 (2)         Ease of use
8.8    10 (7)    6 (1)         Vendor's integrity
8.0    10 (2)    5 (2)         Overall satisfaction
Total number of respondents for all software = 31

For more information about Library Master contact:

Balboa Software
5845 Yonge Street
P.O. Box 69539
Willowdale, ON M2M 4K3, Canada
416 730-8980
416 730-9715 - fax
hahne@epas.utoronto.ca
listserv: libmastr@acadvm1.uottawa.ca
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Papyrus

Ave     High    Low      Category
9.2    10 (3)    8 (1)         Documentation
9.1    10 (3)    8 (2)         Service/support
8.9    10 (2)    8 (3)         Product reliability
8.5    10 (1)    5 (1)         Product capabilities
8.0    10 (1)    6 (1)         Ease of use
9.6    10 (7)    7 (1)         Vendor's integrity
8.6    10 (1)    5 (1)         Overall satisfaction
Total number of respondents for all software = 8
For more information about Papyrus contact:
Research Software Design
2718 S.W. Kelly Street, Suite 181
Portland, OR 97201
503 796-1368
RSD@applelink.apple.com
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Pro-Cite

Ave     High    Low      Category
6.7    10 (1)    2 (1)         Documentation
7.0    10 (2)    3 (1)         Service/support
7.9    10 (2)    1 (1)         Product reliability
7.8    10 (3)    2 (1)         Product capabilities
6.6    10 (4)    3 (2)         Ease of use
7.8    10 (2)    2 (1)         Vendor's integrity
7.2    10 (2)    1 (5)         Overall satisfaction
Total number of respondents for all software = 26

For more information about Pro-Cite and Biblio-Link contact:
Personal Bibliographic Software
P.O. Box 4250
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
313 996-1580
313 996-4672 - fax
Internet: sales@pbsinc.com, support @pbsinc.com
listserv: pro-cite@iubvm.ucs.indiana,edu
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Reference Manager

Ave     High    Low      Category
7.4      9 (  4)    4 (2)         Documentation
7.9    10 (  3)    4 (1)         Service/support
8.0      9 (  6)    5 (1)         Product reliability
8.2    10 (  2)    4 (1)         Product capabilities
8.1      9 (10)    4 (1)         Ease of use
8.4    10 (  3)    6 (1)         Vendor's integrity
8.1    10 (  1)    4 (1)         Overall satisfaction
Total number of respondents for all software = 18
For more information about Reference Manager contact:
Research Information Systems, Inc.
2355 Camino Vida Robie
Carlsbad, CA 92009
619 438-5547
619 428-5266 - fax
Internet: sales@ris.risinc.com or tech@ris.risinc.com
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STN Personal File System

Ave     High    Low      Category
7.7    10 (2)    3.5 (1)         Documentation
7.5    10 (2)       3 (1)         Service/support
7.5    10 (1)       1 (1)         Product reliability
8.0    10 (3)       2 (1)         Product capabilities
7.9    10 (2)       5 (1)         Ease of use
8.1    10 (3)       2 (1)         Vendor's integrity
7.8    10 (3)       1 (1)         Overall satisfaction
Total number of respondents for all software = 8

For more information about STN Personal File System contact:
STN International
c/o FIZ Karlsruhe
P.O. Box 2465 D-y
6012 Karlsruhe 1 F.R. Germany
+49/7247/808-555
+49/7247/808-666
STNmail: HLPDESKK
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Future Surveys:

You are invited to participate in future 'Cibbarelli's Surveys'.

Future surveys are:

- Subscription services
e.g., Readmore, Blackwell, Dawson, EBSCO, Swets, Everetts, Faxon,
Harrassowitz, Turner; due by April 1.  To be published in
Computers in Libraries

- IOLS for DEC VAX/VMS
e.g., DRA, Aristocat, Datalib, Horizon, Galaxy, Georgetown, InMagic Plus,
BiblioTech, Libertas, Manager Series, MultiLIS, SydneyPlus, TechlibPlus,
ULISYS; due by May 1.  To be published in Information Today.

- Library Security Systems & Self-Checkout Systems
e.g., Checkpoint Systems, Gaylord, Highsmith, Kingsley, 3M, Magnovation;
due by July 1.  To be published in Computers in Libraries.

- Retrospective Conversion Services & Online Cataloging Services & Software
e.g., OCLC, WLN, Mitinet/Marc, BiblioFile, LaserQuest, Marcive,
RetroLink Associates, EKI, Electronic Scriptorium; due by Aug 1.
To be published in Computers in Libraries.

- Software for Use by Library Patrons to Navigate the Internet
e.g., NCSA Mosaic, Air Mosaic, Chameleon, Lynx, Gopher, GINA,
NetCruiser, Netscape, Vizion, WinPAC, Marvel, Internet Link; due by Sep 1.
To be published in Computers in Libraries.

To participate in the surveys, please complete the form in the
following e-mail message and send it to
Cibbarelli's    419 Main St. #82   Huntington Beach, CA 92648
fax 714 960-5454        e-mail PCibbarelli@Fullerton.edu

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Pamela Cibbarelli 714 969-8358 PCibbarelli@Fullerton.edu
adjunct faculty, California State University Fullerton
editor, Directory of Library Automation (Learned Info, 1994)
columnist, _Information Today_, 'Cibbarelli's Surveys'
technical program chair, IOLS'95