The university now has a license to use Refworks, a tool for collecting bibliographic references and properly formatting a bibliography and citations according to any of several hundred reference styles. People who already use Endnote or ProCite can send Refworks citations to those programs, and use both simultaneously.
To begin using Refworks, create an account by visiting this page:
Refworks Accounts for Rutgers - https://rulink.rutgers.edu/refworksacct.php.
When using RefWorks, it is best to log in through the "Connect" link at the library web site, this ensures full access to the Library databases and other resources, particularly if you do some of your work off-campus:
Library Refworks Information and Login - http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/refworks/refworks.shtml
It is possible to login directly by going to http://www.refworks.com, however if you do this when you are off campus then the links to the "full text" of articles may not work if they require a Library log-in.
The Library has already integrated many of their electronic resources to send reference information directly to RefWorks (look for an option for "bibliographic manager" when saving reference lists), and IRIS should be able to do the same in the near future.
In addition to using RefWorks for personal research and writing, it is possible to use it as a teaching resource. There are several possible methods to share RefWorks reference lists with students, the different methods have different purposes and individual faculty can choose whatever method best suits their needs.
- Using your own RefWorks account, create a folder and use the "RefShare" feature to share that folder with anyone in the world (no password required). Any reference that you place in the folder will be available to anyone who has the link to your folder, however they can only view the references and will not be able to alter them. You can mail the link to students or put it on a course web site. Students can copy the references into their own RefWorks account in order to use them as a source for citations.
- In your RefWorks account information, you can set a "Read Only" password. Providing this password to your students will allow them to view any references in any folder of that RefWorks account, but they cannot change anything. This is similar to RefShare but applies to the entire account (not just a folder), and requires a password.
- Create multiple RefWorks accounts (you can have as many as you like). For example create an "English_101" RefWorks account, and share the "English_101" username and password with your students. This gives anyone who has that username and password full access to the reference list, so students can add or modify references as needed. You can share this username and password with your students (remember to keep your own, personal RefWorks account private; create additional RefWorks accounts for sharing).
RefWorks integrates well with course management systems like Sakai, eCompanion and Blackboard. In particular, if you use "RefShare", you can paste the shared link into your course site (in Sakai, use a "web link" tool) to have the reference lists appear in the course site, without requiring a second login. "RefShare" also produces an "RSS Feed" that can be used with the Sakai "News" tool for a similar but more flexible result.
More information is available at the Library's RefWorks page, and the Center for the Advancement of Teaching will schedule training workshops, beginning in the Spring semester.
