Hunter College
GSR 716: Workshop in Using Information Technology for Research
Spring 2007
Manfred Kuechler

Last update: 5 Jan 2007
Recommended monitor resolution: 1280 x 1024 (how to)

Using the Web Option in EndNote X.0.2

What is EndNote Web?

EndNote Web provides users with access to the EndNote program -- to be precise: a more limited set of program functions than what EndNote installed on your computer offers -- and personal server space on the web (which can be accessed from anywhere with any web browser). In addition, EndNote X.0.2 lets you transfer references/citations back and forth between your computer (local EndNote libraries) and web folders in this personal EndNote space.

How do you I get EndNote Web?

EndNote Web is part of the Hunter site license for EndNote covering both students and faculty. You can update to version X.0.2 by using the built in update option:

However, you should first check whether you have the latest version of EndNote available for your operating system (e.g., Win XP) installed by visiting the Hunter College EndNote download site (to access this site you must provide your Hunter e-mail address and password). At some point, the Hunter site may also offer upgrades within major versions, but they are not available at this point.

If the Update Wizard does not work for you, so can also go to the EndNote update site directly.

If your computer does not allow the installation of EndNote X.0.2, you can still get EndNote Web, but you won't be able to move easily between your EndNote web folders and your local EndNote libraries. However, you could decide to use EndNote Web exclusively and/or not even install/use EndNote on your local computer (but I do not recommend it, and I require use of the full product in GSR716). In order to use the EndNote/Ms Word integration, however, you would need to install a specific plug-in (more information and download/installation instructions). If you install EndNote X.0.2 locally, this is included; so don't have to do it separately (see also the companion document on EndNote/MS Word integration).

To get your EndNote web space, a one time registration is necessary. To do this, you need to use a computer with a Hunter IP address, i.e., a computer on campus as the Hunter library has not (yet?) added this site to the EZ proxy server: http://www.myendnoteweb.com/

You will receive a confirmation of your registration via e-mail reminding you of the e-mail address and the password you selected. Once you are registered, you can use your login information from anywhere (at least for a year after which another "authentication" -- proof that you are still Hunter faculty or student -- may be required). If you have previously registered for ISI's "Web of Science/Knowledge", you can use this login information for MyEndNote Web as well. As a matter of fact, your registration will be rejected if you try to register for EndNote Web with the same user name (e-mail address) and password you used for WoS. In contrast, if you have previously registered for MyWriteNote, this login information will not work.

Once you have registered, you are ready to log in (from anywhere) and you will see a screen like the following. Of course, it will say "Total References: 0" to start with. You can add up to 10,000 references.

An extensive HELP menu is available which should make it easy to use EndNote Web -- even if you have had no prior experience with the regular EndNote.

Limitations -- compared to regular EndNote

The web version is clearly more limited. How important these limitations are for you depends on what you want to do. They may be fairly irrelevant for some users, while others may view them as severe. These limitations include:

You cannot add or modify connection files, import filters, and output styles

E.g., you cannot add the custom "GSR716" style
E.g., you cannot add the custom CUNYplus connection file
E.g., you cannot fix a bug in an import filter

When importing you cannot select a different "text translation"

E.g., you cannot fix an import problem by switching to another "text translation" (assumption how exactly special and foreign language characters are coded) and thus fixing citation(s) with weird looking characters; you have to rely on the import filter to guess correctly which "code page" or "character encoding" a specific database is using)

You cannot automatically transfer citations from a database (rather you have to save an export file first and import it subsequently)

Several databases (including EBSCO, but also ScienceDirect and JSTOR) provide export files in "Reference Manager (RIS)" format which can be automatically opened in EndNote, this is not possible with EndNote Web
Several databases also provide direct export to "RefWorks" (another web based citation manager for which CUNY now has a site license); whether these databases will provide direct export to EndNote Web in the future remains to be seen

You cannot add full text pdf files

EndNote Web is strictly a citation manager not the more comprehensive individual literature database the regular version has developed into.

Transfer between EndNote web folders and local EndNote libraries

While EndNote Web has an "export" function, this allows for export of formatted references only (using one of the available styles; so could not export a citation list in GSR716 style). All transfer of original references -- in either direction -- must be done from your local EndNote program:

Make sure to select the local library before you start the transfer; also -- if you don't want to transfer all references in this library, hide those you don't want to transfer from view (there are several ways to do this via the "References" menu).
Select the web folder you want these references to be transferred to. You cannot set up new web folder from here, but you can always transfer them to "Unfiled" and then move them into a (new) web folder once you login to your EndNote web space.
Heed the warning. If you fixed import glitches manually, e.g., replaced some weird looking characters with quotation marks, these changes may be lost. However, I have had mixed results here. Sometimes such changes were lost, sometimes they were maintained. So, just check the uploaded references carefully for any discrepancies with waht you have in your local EndNote library.
You will receive a confirmation message that the references have been transferred. However, it is not a bad idea to go and check for yourself.

Here are the transferred references in the web folder and now in alphabetical order (partial view):

Note that only author, year, and title are shown in any overview listing, but that the first name of the author in included. However, also notice a major problem with special characters. The quotation marks in the title of the Ali (and Chomsky) articles get replaced by some weird text strings (actually, not really weird; these are the "source code representation" of the quotation mark character), and when you -- subsequently -- transfer these references back to your local computer, they stay this way and need to be edited manually. The same holds when you are creating a formatted reference list on the web site for export (download, save) -- no matter which format (html, plain text, or rtf) you select. Obviously, this new feature is still work in progress.

Bottom Line

Sole use of EndNote Web -- or Refworks -- is not an option for students in GSR716. If at all, use it as a supplement to a local installation of EndNote only -- for times when you have to work on a computer where EndNote is not installed.

If you anticipate working on more than one computer but all of which have EndNote installed (like your home computer and the computers in well run Hunter labs), you are better off by working with the same EndNote library. This can be done in two ways:

use a USB drive with a copy of the most recent version of your EndNote library
use some other web server space and copy your your EndNote library to and from this web space; no cost options include XDrive (thanks to Devra Golbe for this tip)

The second option will work if the computer has EndNote installed, but does not offer access to USB ports (like the computers in the Hunter hallways and maybe even the computers in some of the Hunter labs). An "EndNote library" consists of a file with the extension .enl (like "mylibrary.enl") and an associated folder with a matching name (like "mylibrary.Data"). To be on the safe side, always copy both the "*.enl" file and the matching "*.Data" folder and keep both together in the same place (folder).