Introduction to RefWorks

Charles K. Bellinger

RefWorks is a bibliographic utility package that is available to TCU/Brite Divinity School students and faculty. It provides the user with a place to store bibliographic information that can later be used for creating footnotes (or endnotes) and bibliographies. RefWorks is a web site, rather than a software program. This means that RefWorks can be accessed wherever the user has an Internet connection. RefWorks is compatible with PCs and Macs.

1. Establishing an account

If you are at a computer connected to the TCU network, go to the TCU Library home page: http://lib.tcu.edu > click on Citation Tools > RefWorks

This will take you to the RefWorks Login Center > click on Create Account > follow the instructions

If you are not at a computer connected to the TCU network, you will need to access RefWorks through a screen that has a "Remote Access" tab. The group code you will need is

RWTexasChU

After gaining access, you will need to Create Account > follow the instructions

Important: If you are using a "popup blocker" in your browser, you need to allow popups when using RefWorks.

2. Setting up folders

After you login, you can set up as many folders as you want to. A folder is a place to store bibliographic records. A particular record can be placed in more than one folder.

To set up a new folder, click on > My Folders > Add Folder

Important note: Click on > Create Bibliography > Citation Style Editor > search for > Chicago 17th Edition (Notes & Bibliography) BRITE > Save
From that point forward, you should be able to change "Normal View" to "Citation View" to > Chicago 17th Ed. BRITE, which will give you a preview of what your results will look like when they are produced in that Output Style (which I recommend).

3. Searching databases and exporting records

A. You can import records into RefWorks from the TCU catalog. However, to do this you will not search the TCU catalog as you normally would. Instead, within RefWorks, click on the Search Databases > Texas Christian University. Enter search terms; after completing your search, check mark the records you want to transfer and click on Import (upper right corner) > then go to the Last Imported folder (left side) and put the record or records in one of the folders you have created.

B. WorldCat

Search WorldCat as you normally would. [A tutorial is here: http://lib.tcu.edu/staff/bellinger/60011/WC_tutorial.htm ]

After you locate the records you want to transfer, click on the Export button which is located at the top and the bottom of the search results page. Click the radio button for "Export to RefWorks." If you have check marked records, also click on "Marked records from this search: #."

Go back to the RefWorks window and click on View Last Imported Folder. Click > "All in List" then click on the icon next to that which is a yellow folder with a green plus sign. That will prompt you to move the records into one of the folders you have created.

These instructions will apply also to the other OCLC databases we subscribe to, such as ECO (Electronic Collections Online), ArticleFirst, and WilsonSelectPlus.

C. ATLA

Search in ATLA as you normally would. [A tutorial is here: http://lib.tcu.edu/staff/bellinger/60011/atlas_tips.htm ]

After you locate the records you want to transfer, add them to the ATLA holding area by clicking on "Add" (to folder). When you are ready to transfer the records, click on "Folder." Then click on Export > Direct Export to RefWorks.

Go back to the RefWorks window and click on View Last Imported Folder. Click > "All in List" then click on the icon next to that which is a yellow folder with a green plus sign. That will prompt you to move the records into one of the folders you have created.

These instructions will apply also to the other EBSCO databases we subscribe to, such as Academic Search Ultimate, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PsycINFO, Old Testament Abstracts, New Testament Abstracts, Philosophers Index, and Christian Periodical Index.

D. It is possible to export from JSTOR into RefWorks. See
https://support.jstor.org/hc/en-us/articles/115004871747-Citation-Management-Exporting-Citations-from-JSTOR

4. Writing a paper with footnotes

See: https://proquest.libguides.com/newrefworks/format

5. Creating a bibliography

If you want to create a bibliography by itself, separate from a paper, these are the steps. Click on the Bibliography button within RefWorks, then Create. Click the "Format a Bibliography from a List of References" button. Click the drop down list and select the folder of references you wish to turn into a bibliography. Under File Type, select your desired format. Click the Create Bibliography button. The results will open in a new browser window (this is an example of why a popup blocker must be turned off).

6. Cleaning up the data

When looking at a folder, you should "Change View" to "Chicago (Notes) 14th Ed. BRITE" if it is not there already.

When you download records from WorldCat, ATLA, or other databases, it is highly likely that some of the data you download will be "messy." In other words, when the data is turned into notes or a bibliography, there will be minor or major problems with the results. You will need to: 1) proofread the results and identify the problems, 2) fix the problems in the records you have downloaded, 3) produce a 2nd iteration of the paper or bibliography. The best way to explain this is through examples.

Take a look at this reference:

Steinmetz, David Curtis, Richard A. Muller, and John Lee Thompson. Biblical Interpretation in the Era of the Reformation : Essays Presented to David C. Steinmetz in Honor of His Sixtieth Birthday. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1996.

This is an example of a "festschrift" which is a collection of essays that are intended to honor a senior scholar as a kind of "lifetime achievement award." There are two problems here that need to be fixed. Can you identify them?

1. The first change is that since this is a "festschrift," Steinmetz is not really an author and should be removed from the Authors field:
   Muller,Richard A.; Thompson,John Lee
   (Including the honoree's name as an "author" of a festschrift is a cataloging convention, but it gives an inaccurate picture of who is responsible for the book.)

2. The second change is that this is an edited book, not an authored book. Muller and Thompson are the editors. (Within WorldCat, scroll down in the record for this book to the "Responsibility" line and you will see what I mean.) To fix this, change "RefType" from "Book, Whole" to "Book, Edited."

This is what a reference to a particular essay looks like after being downloaded from ATLA and formatted by RefWorks for a bibliography:

Teske, Roland J. "The Good Samaritan (Lk 10:29-37) in Augustine's Exegesis." In Augustine, , 347-367.New York : Peter Lang, 2001, 2001.

The book has a subtitle: Augustine: Biblical Exegete, and it also has editors: Frederick Van Fleteren, and Joseph C. Schnaubelt. The information about the subtitle and the editors will need to be obtained either by clicking on the book link within the "Source" field of the ATLA record for the Teske essay: "View Source Record" or by getting this information from the TCU catalog or WorldCat. To clean up this record, click on the icon that shows a yellow pencil over a white piece of paper next to the record when you are looking at a list of records in a folder. In the Editors box, type:

Van Fleteren, Frederick; Schnaubelt, Joseph C.

In the Book Title box, add the subtitle so that it reads:

Augustine: Biblical Exegete

Cut the words New York from the Publisher box and paste them into the Place Of Publication box.

Delete the year "2001" from the Publisher box (it is already in the Pub Year box where it belongs). Click on "Save Reference."

Now the output looks much better:

Teske, Roland J. "The Good Samaritan (Lk 10:29-37) in Augustine's Exegesis." In Augustine: Biblical Exegete, edited by Frederick Van Fleteren and Joseph C. Schnaubelt, 347-367. New York: Peter Lang, 2001.

Here is another record that could be improved (this one comes from WorldCat):

Aquino, María Pilar, Daisy L. Machado, and Jeanette Rodriguez. A Reader in Latina Feminist Theology : Religion and Justice. 1st ed. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2002.

The three names listed look like authors, but they are editors. Also, the "1st ed." is not necessary. These problems can be fixed by clicking on the "edit" icon (yellow pencil) next to the record when you are looking at a list of records in a folder. Then, change the Ref Type from Book, Whole to Book, Edited. (That automatically changes the author box to an editor box.) Delete "1st" from the Edition box. Now the citation looks like this:

Aquino, María Pilar, Daisy L. Machado, and Jeanette Rodriguez, eds. A Reader in Latina Feminist Theology : Religion and Justice. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2002.

Generally speaking, WorldCat and the TCU catalog do not label anthologies as "Book, Edited", so this is a change that will have to be made for almost every book that is a collection of essays.

Concluding comments: I realize that this process of cleaning up the data is cumbersome and time-consuming. But it is less time-consuming than having to enter all of this data in manually. Plus, it only needs to be done once, and from that point forward, the cleaned up records will produce good results when they are output by RefWorks. Manual input of data also allows more opportunity for misspellings and typos, which are very rare in the data that is downloaded.

7. Backing up your data

It is a good idea to periodically backup the data that you have stored in your folders. To do this, click on the Tools button, then Backup & Restore. Click the Perform Backup button and a .zip file will be saved on your hard drive, thumb drive, or other specified location.