My reader is using Mendeley to manage her references for a systematic review AND MSc thesis. I therefore have... not much time to learn how to use Mendeley in order to export the 7793 references from my Endnote Library what I've spent about 8 hours working on this week... as an appropriate file for her to import into her Mendeley account. I am on a Mission.
I've already noticed though, being iPad-aware at the moment, that the Mendeley homepage mentions something about iPhone and iPad apps... Which sounds good, doesn't it!?
Right. Downloaded the programme onto my PC. Next up: read the (frigging) manual - http://s3.amazonaws.com/mendeley-desktop-download/Getting_Started_Guide.pdf I think I shall treat myself by printing it off, instead of trying to do the inevitable two-things-at-once-or-more.
While that prints, can I just say that in my short career as an information scientist, information specialist, and now Librarian, I have used the following reference management software progs: ProCite (i liked this one); Endnote (my favourite); Refworks (grrr sums up my experiences); and ReferenceManager (yucky). I will probably need to start teaching PAs who work in my building how to use and make the most of Endnote, which will involve providing 1-2hr group training sessions for 4-6 people in our group study room at some point when the Oncology Dept have decided that they like me. I would also like to know how to use the Oxford-based Colwiz, as well as Mendeley, so let us proceed.
I've opened my Mendeley programme on my PC, uploaded some test PDFs, and followed the instructions for exporting from Endnote, importing into Mendeley.
At this point, a) the Endnote file mysteriously now has 7799 refs instead of the desired 7793, and b) the whole thing has crashed.
Whoops.
I'll see if my reader can open the Endnote file (XML document), or if she wants to wait until she's purchased the Mac version of Endnote for just over £80 from the Ox Uni Computing Services shop (as advised by me just now in an email...), and wants an Endnote-compatible file, I'll send her big files after lunch.
I like Mendeley so far, apart from causing it to crash with too many references to import.
I really should try out Zotero, as we've mentioned it in the past in training sessions for evidence-based people as a good free reference management tool and I've never tried it!
That's it for now. More later. If the programme un-crashes.
(10 mins later, on KC help desk) -
It works! I can analyse my references in my Mendeley account from another PC! But will it work for my reader?
(several hours later...)
The reader has reported that Mendeley is too annoying to work with. It is unstable with Word. So she has bought Endnote x4 for her mac, and I have sent her the files as Endnote import text files for her to import herself, along with instructions for Endnote and Macs.
A mixed result. We are both happy that the references (7793, don't forget) can be imported into a Library, but have concluded that Endnote is better for people doing systematic reviews than a free product such as Mendeley.
This is a blog written by a medical librarian used to discuss library issues, 23 Things projects, and cats.
1 comment:
I'm sorry to read you've been having issues with Mendeley. In fact, 7000+ references is quite a large library. As community liaison with Mendeley, I'd like to know what problem was your colleague getting when importing the EndNote XML file into Mendeley. Was it simply crashing without warning? Could you possibly contact our support team with your problem and they'll help sort out this error.
I've (and many colleagues of mine) have used Mendeley to do literature reviews, write their thesis, write manuscripts, etc without much issue. Therefore, it is sad to read you had problems and ended up spending money on software to do your research. Feel free to contact me or our support team support@mendeley.com to get things going again with Mendeley.
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