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UA Libraries provides EndNote 20 software through a campus subscription. You can search databases and save and organize citations. EndNote has thousands of citation styles available - APA, MLA, and Chicago. |
Zotero is free software that you can download and use on Firefox, with plugins for Chrome and Safari. It saves citations and connections to online media, and takes screenshots of your internet research. |
Mendeley is free software that you can download to your computer or use in-browser. It takes all of your PDF article files and organizes them. It enables tagging and has a growing community of scholars. |
| LEARNING CURVE | ||
| Training recommended. Desktop version is easier to learn than Online. | Quick to learn, especially with training. | Quick to learn, especially with training. |
| CONSIDERATIONS FOR USE | ||
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Use the Online version of EndNote to sync with your desktop software and to share citations with your colleagues. Both desktop and online versions work best with the Firefox and Chrome browsers. Neither work well with Safari browser! ALWAYS save libraries on your hard drive, not in the cloud, to avoid corrupting your data. |
Zotero is used with your personal browser – to use it on multiple devices you have to carry your library settings on an external device or sync via Firefox, which is not secure on a public computer. |
Mendeley has some difficulty downloading citations and PDF files from library databases. Older PDF files that do not have proper metadata will not provide accurate citation information to Mendeley. |
| STORAGE SPACE | ||
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EndNote Desktop: your computer's storage capacity. EndNote Online: 2 GB free, unlimited with the campus EndNote Desktop subscription. |
Zotero Desktop: your computer's storage capacity. Zotero Online: 300 MB free, additional space for a fee. |
Mendeley Desktop: your computer's storage capacity. Mendeley Online: 2 GB free. |
Adapted with permission from the Michigan State University Library Comparison Chart.
