Endnote 5.0

Rating:
Summary: Endnote 5.0 is truly a great beginning!
Review: After adjusting to "sticker" shock Endnote 5.0 has indeed "been worth the money" for this struggling teacher-returned-to-doctorate-student. This is a fine example of software making APA more accessible and one less thing to worry about on the way to getting that final approval for an EdD. Consider this the Endnote in your search "for real".

Rating:
Summary: Huge improvement from 2.3 (but still no geography journals!)
Review: As someone who was using the 2.3 version of EndNotes (that came on floppy disks) and just updated, let me say the differences are polar. Controlling the format of your bibliography is infintely easier (numbering, spacing, fonts, etc); the number of reference types/templates has at least doubled (including "electonic sources"); the ability to unformat and reformat citations in Word is a major plus; the field completion in the database is a major time saver.

Although some tasks are more difficult than one would expect (e.g. adding page numbers to in-text citations) and there are a few minor bugs that will likely be cleared up in updates, overall this is an excellent buy for those using versions 3 or 2, or for some poor unfortunate person who still lacks a proper reference management program. While the flexibility is not complete, it has vastly improved.

Now if only they would get on the ball and include formats for Geography journals. I mean, at least one journal in the discipline has to be on the same level of readership as "Yeast" (especially since geography by nature operates at much larger scales).

Rating:
Summary: Essential software for academics
Review: Endnote is a fantastic program. The most impressive and useful feature not yet mentioned is the Z39.50 search feature. What this means is that you can click on "Connect" and go to the Library of Congress or other libraries or databases (OCLC FirstSearch, for example, although this one requires a password) and download the entries directly into Endnote. You then have all the references in your own Endnote library without even going to the library site. For example, if you need to search Psych Abstracts, you can use the "connect" feature to search for and download the references, including the abstracts, right into your Endnote library.

The tech support has been very responsive, too, and new filters and other support files are available as downloads at the main site ([URL]).

Yes, there are a few quirky features that still linger from the old versions. The interface isn't as modern as, say, Procite's, but Endnote still works well. It is well worth purchasing and will save you many hours of additional work if you are a graduate student or academic. I'd seriously consider it for undergrads, too, if only for the time and headaches saved in converting from format to format when you're writing papers. Does anyone really want to memorize the differences between CBE, MLA, APA (5th ed), Chicago A, Chicago B, and so on? I didn't think so, and with Endnote, you don't have to; the program will automatically format these references for you.

No, I don't own stock in the company; I'm just a convert to Endnote who, after purchasing two previous versions (3.0 and 5.0) has now ordered version 6.

Rating:
Summary: Essential software for academics
Review: Endnote is a fantastic program. The most impressive and useful feature not yet mentioned is the Z39.50 search feature. What this means is that you can click on "Connect" and go to the Library of Congress or other libraries or databases (OCLC FirstSearch, for example, although this one requires a password) and download the entries directly into Endnote. You then have all the references in your own Endnote library without even going to the library site. For example, if you need to search Psych Abstracts, you can use the "connect" feature to search for and download the references, including the abstracts, right into your Endnote library.

The tech support has been very responsive, too, and new filters and other support files are available as downloads at the main site ([URL]).

Yes, there are a few quirky features that still linger from the old versions. The interface isn't as modern as, say, Procite's, but Endnote still works well. It is well worth purchasing and will save you many hours of additional work if you are a graduate student or academic. I'd seriously consider it for undergrads, too, if only for the time and headaches saved in converting from format to format when you're writing papers. Does anyone really want to memorize the differences between CBE, MLA, APA (5th ed), Chicago A, Chicago B, and so on? I didn't think so, and with Endnote, you don't have to; the program will automatically format these references for you.

No, I don't own stock in the company; I'm just a convert to Endnote who, after purchasing two previous versions (3.0 and 5.0) has now ordered version 6.

Rating:
Summary: Big, powerful and useful - after you've got the hang of it!
Review: EndNote is an extremely powerful tool for organising large numbers of references - great for researchers. Add references to the database manually, by "filtering" in your saved searches from databases or a friend's EndNote or Procite reference list, or by connecting directly to databases which support the Z39:50 standard. Select the bibliography style you need (hundreds available, or design your own) and add straight into your article or thesis - it places a citation in the text and formats a tidy bibliography at the end. It's easy to reformat the citations into other styles (as when you need to submit your article to numerous journals).

Veteran users will be pleased that version 5 has the same look and feel as the last version, with some nice new features. EN5 integrates into Word much better and allows you to see your ciations immediately without having to "format bibliography." The bibliography can be hand-edited to do quick fixes (although it is overwritten if you reformat) Best of all, EN now encodes the library data into your document, so you can do last minute edits on someone else's computer without ruining your citations.
The spell check facility within individual references is a bonus, although it is a little limited and will need to be taught many scientific or specialist words.

First time users should expect to spend a long time learning the ins and outs of this huge package (it took me a couple of weeks to use effectively) and even longer to become a "poweruser," but it's well worth the time if you have to organise lots of references. It comes with a great manual that fills in all the details you'll need, which installs on your computer in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format.

Rating:
Summary: Be aware of price and lack of support
Review: I bought Endnotes not realizing that as a student I could have gotten the product for 1/3 of what I paid for it. I had no way of knowing from the advertisement. It is a very expensive piece of software! It is also difficult to use without an inservice, so it has not been used much by me. I am waiting to meet with an instructor for instruction. This is disappointing. I can't give it a higher rating until I learn to use it.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible tool, but could improve usability
Review: I've recently been exposed to this incredible tool for organizing bibliographical references, and most of my initial impressions are summarized in this thought: "I wish there had been something like this when I was writing my Thesis!" However, I have to note that, as a software, it doesn't adhere to what I consider to be some de facto standards widely used today. For example, what would you normally expect to see, if you haven't voluntarily saved anything when you are going to close a window in a software you are using? "Do you want to save?" Right? Wrong... or at least that's what EndNote's developers decided.

Another thing which I didn't like, actually has a lot to do with the integration of the software with Microsoft Word. This integration is actually one way, i.e. everything you edit on EndNote gets reflected in Word, but NOT viceversa. This can be truly inconvenient at times.

However, all in all, with its downsides, the program actually succeeds at helping people writing essays, thesis, books, etc. to organize without much hassle all the references they need to include in their publications.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Excellent
Review: This is an extremely valuable software page if you work with lots of references. For individuals writing research papers, theses, dissertations, and grants, you will find this package saves you hours and greatly increases your organization and effectiveness in formatting and utilizing references. Endnote is extremely easy to use, and by all means take advantage of the online features immediately. Buy this software, you won't be sorry, I only wish I used Endnote during the years I was in graduate school.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Excellent
Review: This is truly one of the most useful pieces of software I've ever bought.

If you need to incorporate references into anything you write - buy Endnote.

Rating:
Summary: As good as people say!
Review: This is truly one of the most useful pieces of software I've ever bought.

If you need to incorporate references into anything you write - buy Endnote.