Refworks Workshop

Posted on March 9, 2007
Filed Under Teaching, Writing |

What’s wrong with this scenario?

Instructions:
Create a Refworks account.
Open Refworks.
Open a second (IE) window.
Open Jstor.
Use the export link after the citation to export it to Refworks.

Question: Can I do this in Firefox using two tabs instead of two IE windows?
Answer: I don’t know.
Statement: The link in Jstor is dead.
Response: Oh, sometimes you have to close Refworks, then export, then open Refworks again. We don’t know why.
My (silent) response: This is a waste of my time, get back to me when you know how your own system works.

So I sit back from my monitor, which is showing an Import Aborted message, not wanting to slow down the presentation. After all, others seem to be getting the system to work. The next part of the presentation is about how some of the databases won’t export directly to Refworks, so you have to export a text file to your desktop or documents folder, then import it into Refworks. Why do you have to do this? Not for any inherent technical reason, but because the company that owns Science Web makes a product that competes with Refworks. (I have a visceral dislike of proprietary “solutions” for online technologies. I am a militent for open source repositories & tools.) Then after going through this ridiculous maneuver, when importing the text file, you have to know, not just the name of the database & the file name, but the name of the database provider, which “you just have to know” because it is not given anywhere. That’s when I left.

Note: If you want an elegant way to handle references, use the Firefox browser with the Zotero plugin. Much more flexible & it works right in your browser. Further note: After a bit of testing, I conclude that Refworks will not even load in Firefox, which from this user’s point of view means that the program is broken.

Comments

2 Responses to “Refworks Workshop”

  1. Annegret on March 9th, 2007 6:53 pm

    Joe,
    thanks for coming to the workshop. It’s a pity you could not see the real timesaver, which is the feature that allows you to do in-text citations.

  2. jd on March 9th, 2007 7:15 pm

    I’m sure there are wonderful features in Refworks, Annegret. But I use a lot of computer programs & I have seen a lot of user interfaces & can tell you that having to close one program in order to get another to work reminds me of computing in 1995. Really, take a look at Zotero running in a Firefox browser.

    Update: I’ve slightly revised my post to include the fact that the technical stupidity of the system is the result, in one instance, of competing corporate interests. Universities have different sorts of interests & we should affirm those interests in the kinds of technological decisions we make.