| Personal Bibliographic Management (PBM) Software Options
Remember: No PBM is a replacement for knowing the appropriate style guide. If you do not know the citation style, you will not know if the software makes a mistake.
The number of personal bibliographic management (PBM) programs is continuing to expand. You can spend a lot for a full-featured program, but there are also many free programs that will do everything necessary for a simple bibliography project like a term paper. You have to weigh the convenience of the program against the learning curve to use it well--I have always found it easier to learn the rules of the appropriate style guide rather than learn the program. While there are many web pages that allow you to type in bibliographic data so you can then see it formatted in a particular style, the most useful programs let you store your data in a database so you can format all of your references at once. Most researchers will want the ability to output footnotes or endnotes as well as the bibliography references, something that is hard to find in free programs. And you have to weigh client-based vs. web-based versions. Client-based versions require you to only use one computer or carry your references around on a floppy or flash drive (which may not be accessible on secured computers in campus computer labs). Web-based versions will be accessible from any computer with an Internet connection.
Unfortunately for Northern Seminary students, there are not any free options that specifically support Turabian. Since Turabian was originally adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, though, Chicago style references are generally very close to Turabian.
Four Free PBMs:
I think the following four free programs are good, not-too-fussy options for simple bibliography projects. If you are writing a dissertation, you would want to spring for one of the more full-featured options listed at the bottom of the page:
| Zotero |
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Firefox's plugin does 90% of what the average researcher needs.
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| bibme |
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A very slick interface with lots of material formats -- not just books.
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| Scholar's Aid 4 Lite |
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Uncluttered interface; $100-$150 for full version which also does notes.
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| EasyBib |
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Unfortunately limited to APA & MLA only; $8 per year for pro version.
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Two Additional Free PBMs:
BiblioExpress
http://www.biblioscape.com
Free client program that can be run off a thumb drive that allows you to manually enter bibliographic data (or
import data in a few select formats) and copy and paste notes or bibliography entries in ACS, APA, or MLA style. See Biblioscape for the full-featured version.
SourceAid Citation Builder
http://www.sourceaid.com
Free web-based program that allows you to enter bibliographic data and construct a bibliography that can be
downloaded or emailed in MLA, APA, Chicago, or CSE style. You cannot save your bibliography between sessions. See
SourceAid Citation Builder Pro for full-featured version.
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For-Purchase PBMs:
Biblioscape
http://www.biblioscape.com
Biblioscape comes in both a Lite ($80/$50 education) and a Standard ($140/$100 education) version (as well as some
much more expensive versions); both the Lite and Standard Versions allow you to manually enter bibliographic data or
import it from a variety of sources. The Lite version lacks some of the integration with wordprocessing software.
It does include formats for both Chicago and Turabian style.
Citation
http://citationonline.net
Software for ca. $100 that will let you build a database of references and then will output your references in many
different possible style formats. A $20 add-on package allows you to capture bibliographic information directly
from web pages.
EndNote
http://www.endnote.com
Full-featured software for ca. $240 that will let you build a database of references and research notes and then
will output your references in many different possible style formats. EndNote is slightly more full-featured than
ProCite, allowing you to store images and digital objects. Compare all of Thomson ResearchSoft's
products at http://thomsonresearchsoft.com/compare/.
MyBibPro
http://www.easybib.com
Web-based program for $8.00 per year subscription that allows you to store biblographic data on the web and then
export formatted bibliographies and notes in both MLA and APA styles. Data for many in-print books can be copied to
your database without having to be manually entered.
Nota Bene
http://www.notabene.com
Nota Bene was one of the earliest academic writing products before the days of Windows wordprocessors. It is its
own wordprocessing program as well as a reference and citation database program. Scholar's Workstation is ca. $400;
Lingua Workstation with support for non-Roman scripts is ca. $450.
ProCite
http://www.procite.com
Full-featured software for ca. $240 that will let you build a database of references and research notes and then
will output your references in many different possible style formats. ProCite is slightly less full-featured than EndNote;
ProCite does not allow you to store images and digital objects. Compare all of Thomson ResearchSoft's
products at http://thomsonresearchsoft.com/compare/.
Reference Point Software
http://www.referencepointsoftware.net/
Downloadable templates for $28 for APA or MLA styles that simplify the process of creating a document in those
styles including tools to help you create correctly formatted notes and bibliographies.
RefWorks
http://www.refworks.com
$100 per year subscription gets you access to RefWorks' web-based program that stores your bibliographic data on the
Internet and can generate notes and bibliographies for you in a wide variety of formats. Compare all of Thomson ResearchSoft's
products at http://thomsonresearchsoft.com/compare/.
Scholar's Aid 4 AE
http://www.scholarsaid.com
Software starting at $150 ($100 educational) that creates an extensive database of bibliographic references and
research notes. Bibliographic data can be imported/exported and inserted into wordprocessing documents in notes or
bibliographies in either APA or Chicago style.
ScholarWord
http://scholarword.com
Software that comes in one of four styles ($20 - $30 each) or in Pro version ($50) that includes all four styles:
MLA, APA, Chicago (incl. Turabian), and CSE. In addition to formatting citations, ScholarWord also helps to format
your entire paper correctly. It does not store a database of citations, though, so you must manually type your
citations each time you want to use them.
SourceAid Citation Builder Pro
http://www.sourceaid.com
$20 per year subscription (shorter subscriptions available) allows you to store your references on the Internet and
can generate footnote and endnote citations as well as bibliographies in MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE styles.
StyleEase
http://www.styleease.com
For $35 you get a Microsoft Word interface that formats your paper for you with predefined styles based on APA, MLA,
Chicago, or "Seminary" (adaptation of Chicago) style rules. (Note that it is $35 for only one style; if you want
two styles, you have to purchase them separately.) Unfortunately, only the APA and MLA versions store your
citations in a database; the Chicago version of StyleEase requires you to retype the same data each time you cite
the work.
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Do you know of a PBM that is not listed here? Email the information to bwalter@seminary.edu so I can update the list.
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