Welcome to the RefWorks blog: join in!

Managing references. Everyone does it. Whether you are in humanities, social sciences, life sciences or physical sciences, you are making references to your sources. And everybody wants to make it easier: a simple click to store, a simple click to cite, a simple click create a reference list in the style of your choice. We are not there yet, alas. But new and easier databases, new software and sites for reference management, better ways of access off-campus and other improvements do make academic life easier for students and researchers alike. The library thinks the introduction of Refworks is certainly a step forward.

With some 1700 Refworks accounts made by UU students and staff, containing a staggering cumulative amount of over 270,000 references, it is clear by now that many of you out there are seriously looking at ways to handle the information flow. But at the same time it is clear that there are many questions surroundig the best ways to organize your references, many things to learn and good ideas to share. That's why we started this blog.

By reading this blog regularly, or, better still, by subscribing to the feed, you will be kept up to date on improvements in the Refworks service and on changes in the way Refworks communicates with major databases (Scopus, Google Scholar, Omega, Web of Science, Picarta and the like).

But I would like it to be a lively and open blog, so please comment, share your great ideas and frustrations in working with references. Together we can do better than the tax man by making working with references not only easier but also nicer!

Anyone can comment on posts in this blog. If you also want to post, please send an email to j.bosman [at] uu.nl. The only restriction here is that you are member of the Utrecht University community.

Jeroen Bosman