ADEPT SCITIFIC SOFTWARE, SOLUTIONS, SERVICES FOR SCICE & TECHNOLOGY How to... collaborate with others using EndNote How to Guide
Collaborating with EndNote Coming from the background of a personal research tool, collaborating with reference lists and co-writing has not been one of EndNote s strengths. However, with the continual development of the online interface, it will not be long before this becomes another area where EndNote excels. So where is EndNote today? Well, teams can collaborate via online EndNote accounts, using 4 slightly different models. In this guide we elaborate on these 4 models and point out the pros and cons of each. We also explain how libraries can be shared without using online accounts. Sharing online Model one The simplest way to share reference collections for viewing and writing is to only use online EndNote Basic accounts: @account 5 READ ONLY @account 2 Here all users in the team create an EndNote Basic account online. They can independently use the online tools to gather references automatically from online sources, add them manually, edit them and even attach PDFs to them (up to the 2GB limit). When they want to share these references with team members, they simply put them into a group that has been set up to be shared with the others, with either read only or read/write access. The next time the others open their accounts they will see this group and its references. NB: Attachments cannot be seen when references are viewed in shared groups. The owner of the shared group will still be able to view them in their All my references group. If required, multiple shared User groups 1 can be set up, each can be shared with just a few members of the team, or with an individual. When a user adds, edits or @account 2 deletes a reference in a shared group, the next time another user refreshes their browser screen, they will be able User to see 1 any changes. When a user adds new references to their account, @account the 1moment they add them to the shared group they will be available to the rest of the team. If they are not added to the shared group, only the user will be able to see them. All users can utilise the EndNote toolbar in Word to insert references from their online accounts, format them to specific @account journal styles 5 and remove them from the document. As long as all the cited references are from shared groups, the document s citations can be edited by anyone in the team.
Model two As EndNote s desktop interface has several useful tools that are not available through the online interface, like Importing PDFs and Smart groups, users can improve their productivity by using this desktop interface. Then they can synchronise the desktop library with their online account to make the references available to the rest of the team as before: @account 2 @account @account 5 5 @account @account 2 3 @account 4 ser 2 ser 3 Another advantage User of 4 this is that the attachment storage in the User online 3 account is increased to 5GB once it has been linked to the desktop library. However, attachments can still only be seen by the owner of the account. For the best compatibility when sharing a paper, the desktop user should ideally use the online interface when writing, as references are added to documents in a slightly different way in the desktop interface to that used by the online interface. Model three Extending the previous @account model, other 1 users may also wish to use the additional tools in the EndNote desktop interface, rather than just use their online account. They too could synchronise a desktop library with their online account. Another option is for users to utilise the ipad app by synchronising this to their online account and finally, some might use their smartphone to view references: @account 5 Mobile @account 2 LOG IN Mobile
@account 5 Model four It is possible for all team members to log into the same online account at the same time, if they know the authentication details. The advantage of this is that they can then all view the attachments linked to references. Users can also synchronise a desktop library to any other online account, if they know the authentication details. This means that team members could be using their own desktop libraries, with each being linked to a common online account. This way they could also view attachments linked to references. As the user synchronises their desktop library both the online account and the desktop library get updated with any changes since the last synchronisation. LOG IN Mobile NB: It is possible for references to get duplicated or corrupted if the same reference is edited simultaneously by multiple users in the same online account. So this model must be used with caution and is not recommended. Conflicts when sharing online If more than one user edits the same reference at the same time, this may cause issues. This will depend on the model used by the team and the timing of all the save actions. Model Four is the least robust method of sharing due to these possible save clashes. When Sync is run, if a reference has been changed in both the desktop library and the online account since the last Sync, a Sync Conflict will be flagged in the desktop library. To see what is causing the conflict, right click on Sync conflicts and click Resolve conflicts, a dialogue box will open, which highlights the differences between the two versions of the conflicting reference: When you scroll down, fields that have conflicting data are highlighted in blue on both sides. The options are to either keep the desktop version and lose the online edit, or keep the online version and lose the desktop edit. If both pieces of information need to be kept, copy from one side to the other before clicking the appropriate Keep button. If you cannot make a decision at this stage, the Skip button can be used to leave the conflict unresolved. Clicking a Keep button, or the Skip button, will display the next conflict if there is more than one, after dealing with the last one the dialogue box closes.
NB: Any conflicts left unresolved when you Sync will leave the Sync Conflicts visible, so you can come back to them later. After synchronising you should always look to see if the Sync conflicts is visible. When using the ipad, there is the same option of keeping either of the versions but there is no way to edit the reference while resolving Sync conflicts. So if both edits need to be kept the reference will need to be manually edited after resolving the conflict. Sharing with EndNote Desktop only As a default, only one user can be in an EndNote Desktop library at a time. However, libraries can be simultaneously shared through the following procedure: In EndNote, create a copy of the library by selecting Save a copy from the File menu, giving it a name like Shared. In Windows Explorer, right click on the.enl file for this copy and select Properties. Tick the Read-only box and click OK. This shared library can now be opened by more than one user at a time. However, nothing in it can be added, deleted, or edited. It can only be used to look references up and cite them in Word documents. If references need to be added, deleted, or edited, one user at a time can open the original library to make the changes. These changes will not be seen in the read only shared library. Overnight an automatic routine can be set up to copy the original (edited) library over the top of the read only version, so the next day all the changes are available for all users. A scheduled batch file containing the file copy commands is one example of how this can be achieved. If an automatic overnight routine is not frequent enough for the users a manual process could be set up too.
Other points to be aware of There is no way of knowing who has added references to shared groups, no user ID. If this information is important to the team they would all need to manually enter an agreed tag into an unused field like the Label field. If desktop and online citations are mixed in a document and the document is unformatted, then refreshed via the online interface, the citations made via the desktop will need to be redefined from the list of available online references. This is due to the record numbers not being available in the online interface. If the refresh is done via the desktop, the citations made via the online interface will be resolved successfully without the need to redefine them. If citations inserted via the online interface have their author, year or title edited, they will not be updated in the Word document unless it is unformatted and refreshed. This is not the case if working via the desktop. When citing in Word from an online account, make sure any shared groups containing references that will be needed are active. Do this by going to Others groups on the Organize tab and ticking any groups that are required. When a library on a computer is synchronised to an online account and that account is then synchronised to a new library on another computer, the Record number for each reference will probably not match up between the two libraries. This is because on the first Sync any missing numbers in the original library will be reused by the next reference in the new library, eg. if one was missing, all references after that point will be out by one. If you need to refer to a sequential number that is the same both ends, use Copy Field in EndNote desktop to copy the Record number into an unused field for all existing references. For new references you will have to manually increment this number. Discover more How-to guides like this, plus a whole range of helpful user resources online at www.adeptscience.co.uk/downloads. You can also find self-service answers to your technical support queries by visiting our Knowledge Base at www.adeptscience.co.uk/kb. ADEPT SCITIFIC SOFTWARE, SOLUTIONS, SERVICES FOR SCICE & TECHNOLOGY Adept Scientific Ltd Amor Way, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 1ZA, UK Tel: +44 (0)1462 480055 Fax: +44 (0)1462 480213 Email: info@adeptscience.com Webstore: www.adeptstore.com www.adeptscience.com Adept Scientific A/S Produktionsvej 26, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark Tel: +45 48 25 17 77 Fax: +45 48 24 08 47 Email: info@adeptnordic.com Webstore: www.adeptnordic.com/store www.adeptnordic.com Copyright 2013 Adept Scientific Ltd. All rights reserved. All trademarks recognised. E&OE 13/10 Adept Scientific GmbH Varrentrappstraße 40-42, 60486 Frankfurt, Deutschland Tel: +49 (0)69 970 841-18 Fax: +49 (0)69 970 841-41 Email: info@adeptscience.de Webstore: www.adeptstore.de www.adeptscience.de