Module 3: Reference Management Software

I chose to use Endnote as my reference management software. Although it was a struggle for me to access it (I was able to find it on the computers in the Health Sciences Library), it seems that this software would be useful in referencing works. It includes the option of creating your own libraries of articles, organized by topics. I could create libraries on a variety of topics, and I could organize the articles by publication year or alphabetically. I could search online for articles through endnote. Also, articles and references can be directly imported from a variety of electronic indexes (including PubMed) to my library. By clicking on the articles within my library, I could access the abstracts of these articles, which would be useful in remembering what their findings are. This would be especially useful as my library expands. This program can be used to reference the articles in a research paper, and it includes styles of referencing text (such as APA) depending on my needs. If I include articles in my research paper, I would be able to keep my references organized with footnotes or endnotes. A librarian even told me that I could e-mail my library references to someone else, and that if they had Endnote, they would be able to access the article abstracts in the same way that I can. Although it was somewhat hard for me to figure the program out, I feel that it would become user-friendly as I used it more.