Imagine that it is time to write up your dissertation. You are looking for an article that you came across during the first couple of months of your literature search. Meanwhile one of the secretaries is grumbling because she is having to type out all the references from your hurriedly-scrawled 5 by 3 index cards for your dissertation. Whether you realise it or not, what you require to assist you in handling your information management problems is reference management software. Produce manuscripts and bibliographies in a swift and straightforward manner Use data from CD-ROMs or the Internet to save you having to key in the details of references manually.
Reference management involves far more than just learning to handle a particular PBMS system.
It requires a systematic, yet labour-saving way of organising your personal reprint collection. It also needs you to be able to recognise the difference between the two main styles of presenting references. Increased interest in reference management in recent years has several drivers. The imperative to research and to publish places a premium on any tool that can assist in the writing process. Meanwhile the increased availability of personal computers and the affordability of software extend such tools to an ever widening audience.