Keywords
Citation
Fourie, I. (2001), "UKOLOG Quick Guide to Personal Bibliographic Software", The Electronic Library, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 184-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2001.19.3.184.5
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic software is an increasingly valuable tool for information managers and researchers. It provides the ability to manage citations and references using computer‐based software packages that allow users to store, retrieve, manipulate and output a full‐formatted bibliography with the minimum effort. Some of these packages also allow for the storage of Web references and for the databases of bibliographic references to be mounted on the Web. Such bibliographic software can be used in any library type, especially academic, research and institutional libraries. It can also play an important role in current awareness services and organisational intranets.
UKOLUG Quick Guide to Personal Bibliographic Software is therefore a timely publication to advise information professionals on the general use of bibliographic software, the legal issues entailed, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of four popular software packages. The packages are: Reference Manager, Endnote, Pro‐cite and Papyrus. Since the authors all have considerable experience with the software under discussion, they could offer sound, practical advice, which should enable information professionals to make decisions on what they should purchase and how to use the software.
The publication consists of seven chapters, a preface, a bibliography and an appendix. Chapter 1 deals with the concept of personal bibliographic software. The following four chapters deal with specific software packages and case studies of their use, namely: Reference Manager (used at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and the BioSciences in London), Endnote bibliographic software (used at the Open University), Pro‐cite (used at the University of Portsmouth) and Papyrus (used at the University of Birmingham). Chapter 6 considers the legal issues surrounding the purchasing of bibliographic software and its use, while chapter 7 offers a summary and conclusion.
The appendix includes a useful list of the Web addresses of bibliographic software, as well as a bibliography. (Unfortunately the title entry in the index is not the same as the heading for the bibliography.) The publication does not include an index.
In general, the discussions are of a high quality, with valuable advice for practising information professionals. I was especially impressed with the detail in chapter 2 on Reference Manager. Occasionally there is also a bit of humour, for example a specific software package that allows for up to 255 author names – “a bonus in an area where collaboration is so popular!” (p. 11).
UKOLUG Quick Guide to Personal Bibliographic Software succeeds very well in its aim of serving as a quick reference tool to consider the main features, strengths and weaknesses of selected software, together with how to use this software. Although aimed at information professionals who do not know (or are unclear about) what personal bibliographic software is, or how to use it, it can also offer valuable advice to the experienced user of bibliographic software. LIS students should also be made aware of the publication, and the need to watch out for future editions.
For future editions it is, however, important that more attention is paid to the layout style and the proofreading. A number of typographic and other errors were spotted (e.g. pp. v, 1, 53, 59, 66, 70, 75, 77). I found the table of contents very cluttered with the names of authors and their institutions added to the titles of the chapters. The lack of consistency for entries in the bibliography is also not a compliment to a publication on bibliographic software.
UKOLUG Quick Guide to Personal Bibliographic Software is a well‐bound publication in A4‐format. It is recommended for all information professionals who are working with bibliographic software, or who intend to enter the field.