RefWorks

RefWorks is a database provided by the Mildred F. Sawyer Library which allows the user to collect and organize references and access them from any Internet-connected computer. References or citations may be organized into folders according to topics, and they may be utilized to create a bibliography using MLA, APA, or other style format. RefWorks offers FAQs, Tutorial Basics, and a Quick Start Guide, in order to assist the new user in the most efficient use of its content.

Setting Up a RefWorks Account:

You must be on campus to sign up for a RefWorks account. Go to "Databases by Subject" from the Mildred F. Sawyer Library home page, and choose any of the first five broad subjects. RefWorks is listed under each subject. Click on "Sign up for an Individual Account." Follow the instructions for creating an individual account. You may choose your own username and password. After you have followed the sign-up procedure, you will receive a confirmation email which will include the Suffolk University Subscriber Group Code. You may need to use this code to access your RefWorks account from off campus.

Exporting Database Search Citations Directly into RefWorks:


After conducting a search and selecting citations, some databases allow the user to directly export these results into RefWorks. For example, if you are using the Academic OneFile database, you can export selected references (citations) directly into your RefWorks account, after saving them to a folder. Go to "Tools" and select "citation tools," choose the format (APA, MLA, etc.), and directly import the citation into your RefWorks account.

Many databases, such as Business Source Complete, JSTOR, Project Muse, PsycINFO, CQ Researcher, LexisNexis Academic, and others, allow the direct export of citations into RefWorks. Most require that selected citations be saved to the database folder first. For further information concerning direct export databases, see RefWorks Direct Export Partners.

Some Databases Require an Import Filter:

For those databases which are not direct export partners, RefWorks offers import filters for importing database search results into RefWorks. For the most comprehensive listing and instructions for use of imports, sign on to your account, select the Help tab, and choose "Getting References into Your Account." Instructions are detailed and quite helpful. In many cases, after completing a search, save the results as a text file. Choose the appropriate filter for the database that was used, and import the file.


Write-N-Cite:




Write-N-Cite is a utility that formats in-text citations and bibliographies. The Write-N-Cite plug-in inserts tags for your citation into your document as you type. Once you have saved and named the document, you need only choose your ciation style and click Create. The formating is completed quickly. To use Write-N-Cite you must first download the Write-N-Cite utility from the Tools pull-down menu. This plug-in is compatable with both Windows and Macintosh applications.

RefWorks is an extremely useful database for student and faculty research. Take advantage of the tutorials and guides mentioned earlier, and expect a bit of a learning curve when first using RefWorks. Check out our new RefWorks Resource Guide.




[FIND RefWorks in our "Databases by Subject" List within any of the first five categories].

Database Alert: IE 7 Causes Scary Warnings and Blocked Connections

Library database access is a fairly sophisticated process involving several systems and applications working in harmony together. Unfortunately, some harmony is hard to achieve--especially with the constant changes with both databases and browsers. We have discovered some issues with database access related to Internet Explorer 7, the latest upgrade to the most popular web browser.

The problem appears related to IE7 balking when a library user tries to access a database through the proxy server--and all of our database run through the proxy. (The proxy server is the library tool that allows you to be authenticated as a Suffolk user and then allows you to be referred into the database, off- or on-campus.)

Since the "security certificate" of the database belongs to the database company, it doesn't include the parts of the URL (or web address/link) that sends the connection through the proxy. Therefore, IE7 throws up a "Danger, Will Robinson!" message that can either frighten the library user, or in some cases, actually interfere with your access to the database.

Right now, we know that this happens when JSTOR users try to access their MyJSTOR accounts. (In this case, you just get a scary warning.) It also happens in Country Commerce, where the warning screen actually interferes with your successful login to the database.

Here is the problem and how to solve it:

If I try to access Country Commerce using the standard installation version of Internet Explorer 7, I first get this scary screen, when it tries to connect:

IE7 thinks it is doing you a favor by telling you not to attempt to connect to the next page. If you click the Continue to this website (not recommended) option, in Country Commerce, the referral will fail and you will not get into the database. Instead, you'll reach the site, but it will demand that you "login." As in this screenshot:


Since we do not use database manual logins, you would not be able to access the database.

What you need to do, to not face this issue, is to tell IE7 that it doesn't need to worry about website security certificates and whether they seem to match.

To adjust this setting. Look at the top menu settings on your Internet Explorer 7 browser. Choose the Tools option

Then click on the bottom Internet Options

Click on the far right Advanced tab. And then scroll to the bottom

UNclick (remove the check mark) in the box that reads "Warn about certificate address mismatch."

Then click the Apply button at the bottom, and then the OK button at the bottom.

See, too, the starred note at this option. It indicates that this change will not go into effect until you restart (close and re-open) your IE7 browser.

This adjustment should allow you to turn off the scary warnings in some databases and avoid the interference that occurs in others.

We are in contact with our database vendors about this issue, but this is a work-around that will alleviate the problem, for now.

New Database: PsychiatryOnline

Sawyer Library has just added another specialized database--one that will be especially useful to psychology researchers. It is PsychiatryOnline, and it is a product of American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. (APPI).

The APPI self-describes their aggregate as "a powerful web-based portal that features DSM-IV-TR®—the most widely used psychiatric reference in the world—and The American Journal of Psychiatry as the cornerstones of an unsurpassed collection of psychiatric references from American Psychiatric Publishing."

A key selling point is the easy access to the key diagnostic reference set, the DSM® Library. Titles including DSM-IV-TR, DSM-IV-TR Handbook of Differential Diagnosis, and DSM-IV-TR Casebook and its Treatment Companion.

The database also includes several valuable journals, including the American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. Five peer-reviewed psychiatry journals are in the set, with ten years of backfile. (Be advised that some "deep" backfile issues are not available as part of this database.)

Respected "textbooks" (of the reference variety) are also available on the platform. These include The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry, Gabbard’s Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders and Essentials of Clinical Psychopharmacology.

PsychiatryOnline does not work that well as a searchable database. Instead of allowing a simple keyword or boolean word combination search the way most databases do, it wants your research to match PsychiatryOnline's own controlled vocabulary, or "index entries." This can be inconvenient, but does work. When you click on a subject term, it will default to giving you book content. But in the grey frame to the left, you will see a link to Journal Results.

This is often a large number of results, since the subject terms are broad. You can limit the term to the title or title and abstract of articles using radio buttons below. Or you can limit to specific APPI journals, or limit for date (perhaps only articles published in the last two years).

They describe their quirky search engine at this link.

The good news is that PsychiatryOnline is less about having a searchable database than it is having reliable electronic access--24/7 for anyone with a valid, current Suffolk ID--to several key psychiatry resources. We hope that you find this content useful.

[FIND The PsychiatryOnline on our "Databases by Subject" List in the "Social Sciences" category.]