5.0635 Biblio SW (2/84)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Sun, 2 Feb 1992 20:43:48 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 5, No. 0635. Sunday, 2 Feb 1992.

(1) Date: Thu, 30 Jan 92 12:42:28 EST (69 lines)
From: Anne Falke Erlebach <AERLEBAC@MTUS5.cts.mtu.edu>
Subject: Pro-Cite vs. EndNote Plus for the Mac

(2) Date: Thu, 30 Jan 92 15:00:07 EST (15 lines)
From: "Heather L. Nadelman" <NADELMAN@PUCC>
Subject: Re: 5.0626 Bibliography SW (2/55)

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 92 12:42:28 EST
From: Anne Falke Erlebach <AERLEBAC@MTUS5.cts.mtu.edu>
Subject: Pro-Cite vs. EndNote Plus for the Mac

As someone who is in the midst of switching bibliographic database
management programs from EndNote Plus to Pro-Cite (version 2.0), I'm in
a position to comment on the difference between the two.

First, if you are happy with EndNote Plus, stay with it. Pro-Cite
is a powerful program--far more powerful that EndNote Plus--but the
tradeoff is a loss of simplicity. My chief criticism lies in the docu-
mentation: a huge loose-leaf manual, crammed with information, but
tough to use if you don't know how already. On-line help
is clearer and easier to follow than the manual. (I've never
had as much trouble figuring out how to use an application before.
Normally, I find starting out on a new one an enjoyable challenge.)

That said, once you figure out how to use this baby, you'll find
EndNote Plus wanting. Some of ProCite's benefits include: increased
record capacity (up to 100,000 records per db), variable-length fields
(to save wasted disk space), storage of up to 32,000 characters per
record, 20 pre-defined and 6 user-defined document workforms (docu-
ment types), authority lists to standardize author names, journal
titles, descriptor terms, or data. Search capability is faster than
EndNote Plus; character formatting, page-view, indexing features are
superior.

Bibliographic output is both more flexible and more accurate. The
reason EndNote Plus made me unhappy in the first place was that the
bibliographic formatting for MLA style was (how can I put this?)
inaccurate. The EndNote Plus version of MLA bibliography style was
wrong, and the style for MLA note-type bibliographies was like
something one of my freshman English students made up on a bad
day. Pro-Cite eliminates the need to reformat. Pro-Cite also
makes customizing your own format easier than it is with EndNote
Plus.

My biggest worry was converting all my old EndNote Plus files,
since I'm a bit concerned about trusting a straight import-conversion.
Importing from text is tedious, but going better than I expected.
I could, of course, follow directions and give it a try, but the
Pro-Cite workforms are long and importing would of course require
arranging the EndNote files so that they had the same number of
fields. Text-conversion is slow, but sure.

I always found the lack of a call-number field in EndNote Plus
to be a drawback. Pro-Cite not only has such a field, but sorts
call numbers accurately in both Library of Congress and Dewey Dec-
imal classifications. This makes it easy to work in the library
from a notebook computer.

I wanted to go to Pro-Cite for a long time, but was discouraged
by its cost. If you buy it from the manufacturer, you pay the full
price of $395. MacWarehouse, however, sells it for $199, and gives
you next-day air delivery for $3. MacWarehouse's number is
800-255-6227.

Pro-Cite 2.0 requires Macintosh 512KE or later.
Macintosh System 6.0 or higher.
Hard disk recommended.
Pro-Cite 2.0 is made by Personal Bibliographic Software, Inc.
P.O. Box 4250
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
(313) 996-1580
FAX (313) 996-4672

PBS is good about sending brochures to interested parties, but I
recommend you save money and buy from someone who discounts, like
MacWarehouse.

Anne Falke Erlebach (AERLEBAC@MTUS5.cts.mtu.edu)
Department of Humanities
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, MI 49931-1295
(906) 487-2066

(2) --------------------------------------------------------------20----
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 92 15:00:07 EST
From: "Heather L. Nadelman" <NADELMAN@PUCC>
Subject: Re: 5.0626 Bibliography SW (2/55)

There is nothing out there as useful for scholars to keep track of bibliography
citations as Nota Bene's Ibid. Ibid works within NB as a database for
articles. When you cite something in a document, you simply hit control-F6.
a window pops up, and you type the author you have just cited. Ibid searches
the database and offers you all choices by that author (you can also search
by title and keyword). You select the one you want and hit the insert key to
stick the reference in your paper. If you haven't entered the database
information, you can do it on the spot and then insert it. Although it is
a big commitment to switch word processors, there is no reason why any academic
working in the humanities should overlook NB. The soon-to-be-released version
4 will have even more features.