Hunter College
GSR 716:  Workshop in Using Information Technology for Research
Spring 2006
Manfred Kuechler


Last update:  13 Feb 2006 -- 4:24 pm
For time to time, I make additions and modifications based on questions/answers from the EndNote forum of  the Discussion Board  of our Bb course web site.


Using EndNote at Hunter: Tips for Using Selected Data Bases


This document assumes that you have downloaded EndNote 7/8/9 from the Hunter library download site, that you have installed it on your computer, and that you have a basic familiarity with its operation, e.g., by having studied the Getting Started Guide  or the basic tip sheets available on the EndNote web site. It will discuss how EndNote is best used with  specific data bases available to the Hunter community and what modifications to your EndNote installation should be made. The focus is on data bases particularly important for the social sciences and -- even more specifically -- for the paper assignment (social policy topics). 
This document also assumes that you are familiar with using these data bases "normally" (i.e., via the web interface they provide).

I have used both EndNote 7 (on Win Me) and EndNote 9 (on Win XP) to develop and double check the recommendations in this document. However, I cannot vouch that everything will also work on Macs.

Filter and Connection Files

General differences between EndNote 9 and earlier the versions 8 and 9 are discussed in a separate document. However, it is important to note that installation files for the older versions also do not contain a number of "filters" and "connection" files now available. These newer filter (.enf) and connection (.enz) files can be downloaded from the EndNote web site; simply right click on the link labeled "FTP", select "save target as" (exact wording varies with the browser you use), and save the file in the matching EndNote folder, typically:
No separate installation needed; EndNote will recognize the additions when you access the matching menu (EndNote 7 may require a restart before an added filter/connection becomes available):
See the sections on specific data bases below which filters are needed (even if they seem to exist in your installation like the CSA filters).  Do this before you start searching in  particular data base, it is a one time operation.

In addition, you should download a connection file for CUNY+ (CUNY-Hunter.enz) from the library download site.

Currently, this is the only additional connection file the Hunter library has made available. I hope that additional connection files (e.g., for EBSCO, CSA and other licensed journal article data bases) will follow in the near future.  While you may find such connection files in your standard EndNote installation and/or at the EBSCO site (see above), these connection files assume that you have a data base specific user name and password. In contrast, CUNY/Hunter access to licensed data bases ("authentication") is -- with a few exceptions -- via IP address. And to connect to a licensed data base directly (from within EndNote) you need to use the "Z39.50" server of the provider (like EBSCO) rather than the web server (as for normal use), so cannot fix the problem yourself based on what you know about conventional (web) access to these data bases.

Bottom line: These EndNote connection files do not work, and we need Hunter-specific connections files for IP address controlled data bases.


A. EBSCO

As long as no Hunter/CUNY-specific connection files are available, connect to EBSCO as usual and use the EBSCO interface to conduct your search. When you have completed your search and are ready to save the entries you have selected, choose the "direct export" option (see screen shot below):



When you click the "Save" button (on the left),  the selected references are downloaded, EndNote is started automatically and all you have to do is to select the "EndNote library" where you want your references to go.

Technically, this is done by sending this file with the mime type "application/x-research-info-systems" and the ".ris" extension. When installing EndNote,  a helper program named "risweb32.exe" is also installed and the ".ris" extension is registered to open with this application. This helper program then opens EndNote (if not already open) and makes EndNote prompt you for the name of a "library" (.enl file). Depending on the browser you use, it may be necessary to fiddle a bit with the browser configuration to make sure that a  ".ris" file  is not simply written (saved) to disk but rather that it is "opened". But this is a one time adjustment, and saving references this way is almost as convenient as a direct connection.  (See the screen shot in the "Science Direct" section below.)

If the automatic import to EndNote does not work with your favorite browser (you may remember the problems I had with Firefox in the Social Science lab in class on Jan 30), switch to MS Internet Explorer if you don't want to or cannot (like in someone else's lab) deal with browser configuration and folder access permissions.

Finally, if this automatic process does not work with your browser at all, you can always save the ".ris" file to disk and then start the import process manually (open EN, select a library, "file"/"import", name the saved ".ris" file as "Import Data File" and then select "Reference Manager (RIS)" as the "Import Option".

B. CSA (includes SAGE Collections)

As long as no Hunter/CUNY-specific connection files are available, connect to any CSA data base (which includes the SAGE collections) as usual and use the CSA interface to conduct your search.  When dealing with an interdisciplinary topic (like in our class) it is advantageous to search all SAGE social science data bases simultaneously by changing the selected data base as shown in the screen shot below:


When done with your search and ready to save, go to the "Save, Print, Email" page, change the setting from "Short Format" to "Full format", indicate the operating system of your computer (PC/Mac/Unix), and then click the "save" button as shown in the next screen shot.  Note that if you do not switch to "Full format" persistent URLs will not be exported and you would have to add them manually. On the other hand, you do not have to pick a "bibliographic style" this choice does not affedt what you save. (The page is not well designed!)




Upon clicking the "Save" button,  a file named "csaresults.txt" is sent to your browser, but unlike other .txt files it is not (or at least should not -- but is depends on the browser you use) displayed on screen, rather you are prompted to provide a file name and the location where it should be saved on your computer. (Technically, this is achieved by sending this file with the mime type "application/octet-stream".)  The location where you save this file does not matter (as long as you remember where you put the file), but you may want to change the original file name  to make sure that you don't -- inadvertently -- overwrite a file, e.g., in case you search two different CSA data bases and save records from both searches.

The saved file "csaresults.txt" (or whatever you renamed) must then be imported into EndNote. As for any import, you need both the file with the references and an "import filter" (which determines how EndNote reads the file with references. However, the CSA import filters supplied with the EndNote installation file do not work properly as they put journal title, page number, and year of publication all together in the "notes" field -- though some, e.g., "Sociological Abs (CSA).enf" is dated 5/16/05 (relatively recent). It is necessary to download a newer CSA filter from the EndNote site (see above). One which appears to work fine for all social science data bases is  "Comm Studies (CSA).enf" (dated 11/8/2005).

The following two screen shots illustrate the import process -- after you have added the needed filter:


Note that if you have not used a specific filter before, you need to click on "Other Filters ..." and select the needed one. This filter is then added to your filter menu (as shown in the first screen shot). You may leave the other two entries at their default values (as shown in the second screen shot). If you have EndNote 8 or 9, you may consider choosing "UTF-8" as this provides better handling of special characters, e.g., used in non-English languages.



C. ScienceDirect  (Elsevier Journals)

As long as no Hunter/CUNY-specific connection files are available, connect to ScienceDirect as usual and use the ScienceDirect interface to conduct your search. As a reminder, select "Social Sciences" to limit your search. When you have concluded your search and made your selection, click the "Export References" button at the top of the results list to initiate the saving process (shown in the two screen shots below):



Accept the default file format (as shown); however, you may want to request "Citations + Abstracts" from the Export  pull-down menu.  The rest  is the same as with EBSCO as described above.

However, the following screen shot shows a prompt when using Mozilla as your browser:


By default, Mozilla would save the file to disk, but you can change how Mozilla is handling this file now -- and in the future. This is an illustration of what I referred to as "changing the browser configuration" above. It does not really require great technical skills. Again, with MS IE you will probably never see such a prompt.

Also, if your browser does save the a .ris file to disk, no great harm is done. You can always use the import feature as discussed in detail for the CSA data bases. Note that .ris files are widely used and that a matching filter is included in the default list ("Reference Manager (RIS)") -- see screen shot above.

D. JSTOR

As long as no Hunter/CUNY-specific connection files are available, connect to JSTOR as usual and use the JSTOR interface to conduct your search.  JSTRO offers "save citation" links in the last line of each entry on the results page. When done selecting, click the "view saved citations" link on the top right on the results list. You can just stay with the default selection as shown in the screen shot below:



Again, depending on your browser you may see a prompt like the one you get with Mozilla:



In this case, Mozilla default selection was to open with "UltraEdit" -- a special text editor I have installed on my computer. In general, it would suggest whatever application is typically used as a text editor on your computer (e.g., NotePad). However, this is of no use here. As described in the EBSCO section above, we want this file to be processed by EndNote and we can select a helper application called "Risweb32.exe" (which got installed automatically with EndNote) to handle this transition. So, we can tell the browser to do exactly this to streamline the import process.

In this case, EndNote will be opened and you will be prompted to select
  1. the EndNote library (.enl file) you want to use and
  2. the filter needed for this import (here: JSTOR)
If you have installed EndNote 9, the JSTOR filter is already in your list; if you have installed EndNote 7, you need to download the JSTOR filter first.

E. Lexis-Nexis

LN does not offer any save option suitable for import into EndNote or any other bibliographic software. The only option offered is to send the references as they appear on screen as an e-mail message. Then, you have enter the information manually into your EndNote library -- piece by piece, a very cumbersome and tedious process. On the other hand, this way you can be sure that all pieces of information end up in the correct fields. And this is something you need to check anyway when "importing" wholesale. As the CSA example above shows, filters do not always work properly and or the information provider sets up the export file incorrectly (see NYPL below) so that even a correct filter produces flawed entries in your EndNote library.

F. CUNYplus

  1. Direct Connection from within EndNote
  2. Using the CUNYplus web interface: save and import

Direct Connection from within EndNote

Using the special Hunter-CUNY connection file connect from within EndNote:



In this case, you use the standard EndNote user interface (rather than the CUNYplus interface):


You can construct fairly complex searches (aka "Boolean" searches using logical connectors like "and" and "or").  Initially only two search fields are shown, but you can add more using the "Add Field" or "Insert Field" button. In this case, you will get a (vertical) scroll bar, so you never actually more than two fields on screen simultaneously.

Note that the term "field" is used with a double meaning here. For one, what I would call "search boxes" are referred as "fields" (the buttons we just discussed). And within each "search box" you have a "field" pull-down menu (where field refers to the different types of information sued for each bibliographical record).  Which of these "fields" are offered (meaning: you can use to specify what you are looking for) depends on the external data base. After you have specified your search string  (via the boxes), you click the "Search" in the lower right corner which triggers a search in the external data base (here: CUNYplus).

And here is what you get in return:


Unlike a search directly in CUNYplus, you only get the number of references which match your search specification. If you want to actually see any of these, you need to retrieve (download) them. Be careful here as this download is rather slow (even if you have a fast Internet connection otherwise). However, you can limit this retrieval to say the first ten or twenty by changing the number shown (here: 359) before clicking the "OK" button. This way you avoid a long wait for the references to be retrieved and you can preview some of the references quickly:


In this example, we notice two things quickly:
The latter is due to the fact that the search was done in the combined CUNY catalog so if a title is listed for each individual CUNY college library which has it. In theory, it should be possible to select whether the "whole library" should be searched or just a part (like specifically the Hunter library). You can do this when you use the web interface to CUNYplus, but the current connection file does not allow this (the relevant pull-down menu is grayed out, see next to last screen shot above). Hopefully, at some point in the future we will get an improved connection file which allow us to make such a choice.

Also, it is not apparent in which order the found references are listed and there is no way to express a preference. It seems, however, that more recently published titles come last -- without that the references are strictly ordered by publication date. Still, if you want to retrieve only part of the references (to save time), you should select from the bottom, e.g., references 300 to 359 in this example. But whether you retrieve all or just part of the references found, the step is to select titles of interest (using the "preview" window to get at least the basics for each title); as usual, you can make multiple selections by holding down the CTRL key while clicking an entry. Then, you can copy the selected references into an EndNote library. (Though the references are already on your computer, they are in a temporary file, and in order to keep them for good you need to copy them (or the ones you are interested in) into an EndNote library for further inspection and modification (like adding notes and comments).




Save in CUNYplus and import to EndNote

Given the limitations of the current CUNYplus connection file, you may want to consider using the web interface to the CUNY+ and then save and import the titles of interest to you -- basically the same way you deal with the data bases discussed above. Here are the details; the choices are by no means obvious.

Using the web interface to CUNY+ you get a much more informative result list (see screen shot below). Also, note that I get fewer results now though the search string was identical. Apparently, the web interface interprets my search string as two consecutive words ("charter schools") whereas the EndNote interface treats it as an implied "and" operator ("charter" and "schools").  Also, latest published titles are listed first. Here is the screen shot:



After you have made your selection (using the check boxes) select "Save/Mail" and -- on the next page --  "save" selected records as "MARC tags" via download to your computer.


If you do not include an e-mail address (and you should not because chances are that the MARC format gets messed up  via e-mail transport), you get another page where you have to confirm your choice to save/download. This page says "PC", but this may be just sloppy wording. I don't see any reason why this should not work for Macs.


There is another complication in that the file is downloaded with .sav extension (which is also used by SPSS). So, if you have SPSS installed on your computer, your browser may be set to try open to open this file with SPSS which will results in an error message. Luckily, Mozilla (see screen shot) asks first, so that I have a chance to tell the browser to just save this file file to disk and in the process, I can change the file extension to ".txt" (which it should be in the first place) and add something more descriptive to this first part of the file name (by default, just some digits).

After saving to disk, this file can be imported into EndNote. As there is currently no import filter for CUNYplus, use "Harvard U" as the "import option" (see attached screen shot for more details:



G. NYPL (CATNYP)

There is no connection file for CATNYP, the catalog of the research division of the New York Public Library (located at Fifth Avenue between 41st and 42nd Street). This catalog is of great interest for people at Hunter given the limited holdings at Hunter and at CUNY in general. At NYPL, books can be only used on premises, never checked out, and thus you can get quick access (notwithstanding that books disappear and the catalog holdings not always match reality).

The web interface for CATNYP offers save choices supposedly suited for import into EndNote:



After you click "Save Marked Records", your selection marks disappear and two more buttons show up in the top bar:


 


You need to change to default settings, to "EndNote" on the left and to "Local Disk" on the right.  The file is named "export.txt", make sure that your browser saves it to disk rather than displays it on screen.  When given a choice, select "save" rather than "open".

When importing use the following setting:


Unfortunately, NYPL does not prepare the export file correctly. The publication date comes with the wrong "tag" ("%8" rather than "%D"), multiple authors are specified incorrectly, and more. So, importing an export file from NYPL require extensive manual correction work. As this format ("tagged EndNote Import") is based on a generally accepted convention (Refer/BiblX) it is clearly the fault of NYPL (not of EndNote) that the import produces rather messy results.

Recommendation:
Do not use CATNYP for searches in the early phase of research. Rather use the catalog of the Library of Congress (below) which allows a direct connection from EndNote and proper import of selected references.  Use the CATNYP catalog only to check whether a specific title is available at NYPL (so that you can get hold of it, if not available at Hunter --  always a good chance), not for documentation purposes.


H. Library of Congress

Though not in physical proximity (hence no physical access to conventional printed books), the LoC had comprehensive holdings and you are not likely to miss important titles (always a good possibility when relying just on CUNYplus).

Connect directly from EndNote using the EndNote search interface discussed above. 

If you are using a computer behind a firewall, it is possible that this connection will not work  as it uses a different "port" than what a web browser uses. However, this all depends on the exact configuration of the firewall. At Hunter, we do have a firewall in place and there is no problem with the EndNote/LoC connection whatsoever.  If you are in an overly restrictive firewall setting, you could try to talk to the people in charge of the firewall and ask them to allow outgoing connections to IP address 140.147.249.38 port 7090 (this is the LoC Z39.50 server EN uses).  Also, note that Win XP comes with its own firewall (just for your computer). While the default settings will not interfere with the EndNote/LoC connection, you may have changed the default settings to a higher security level and you may -- unintentionally -- locking yourself out.

While the LoC catalog is also accessible via a web interface,  and selected references can be saved in "MARC" format (detailed help page at LoC), I have not been able so far to locate a matching import filter for EndNote. There are some "MARC" filters available, but "MARC" comes in many different flavors, and the one used by LoC for its web interface is not currently not supported by EndNote.  At this time, the only alternative to connecting from EndNote directly is to save references as "text" and then input this information into EndNote piece by piece manually -- not a good strategy.