Managing Your EndNote Libraries

Once you have citations in your library, you may need to edit and organize your references. Below are some tips to help you manage your Endnote library.

Finding References

Go to References/Searching References to conduct keyword searches for specific references. You can select specific fields to search in, such as title, author, etc.

Editing References

You can make changes to one or more records in your EndNote library in several ways. You can use cut and paste to correct errors in individual records, or correct errors in several records at once by using Edit/Change Text (similar to find and replace in MS Office products). You can move a entry from one field to another in a single reference by using "drag and drop" or in several at once by going to References/Change and Move.

Removing Duplicate References

Remove duplicates references from your EndNote library by going to References/Find Duplicates. A window will open displaying your duplicate references. Delete the highlighted references by right clicking on one of the highlighed references and selecting "Delete."

Linking Files

Use the "Link To" function to attach a file stored on your hard drive to your EndNote reference. Go to References/Link To and then select the file you would like to connect to the reference. It is often helpful to place your documents in one specific file on your hard drive so that you can easily locate the files or correct the linking should you need to move the documents at some point.

You can also use the URL field in your references to link to pdf articles in databases such as JSTOR. Make sure that the URL you use are stable. If they are not, you may wish to download the document to your computers and then use the "Link To" function.

Term Lists

Term lists are files that contain “controlled vocabulary” for consistent data entry and formatting. There are three types of term lists used in EndNote: authors, journals, and keywords. Using the author term list, for example, can help prevent duplicate variations of an author's name in your EndNote library.

EndNote comes with term lists based on discipline: Chemical, Humanities, and Medical. To install these term lists for use:

• Go to Tools/Define Term Lists.
• Select the EndNote library you wish to use the term lists for.
• Click and highlight on one option of the term lists (Author, Title, or Keyword).
• Click on Import List.
• Go to C:\Program Files\EndNote\Term Lists
• Select the appropriate text file (Chemical.txt, Medical.txt, Humanities.txt).
• The term list should install. You will need to repeat for each additional type of term list.

The Library has also created a custom Geoscience term list for EndNote. To install:

• Right Click on the following link: University of Chicago Library Geoscience Term List
• Save the .txt file under C:\Program Files\EndNote\Term Lists
• Follow the remaining instructions above to import the terms.

If you have additional questions about using Term Lists, please do not hesitate to Ask a Librarian for assistance.