Endnote XI is released...

[Darwin]

Thomson Publishing just sent me an upgrade invite for Endnote XI. They're really starting to tick me off - they pump out a new version every year and charge a fortune to upgrade, but release precious few point releases that address bugs through the year. I *think* they've released two for version X (apparently I have the final version and it's 10.0.2). Anyway, I just checked my records and I purchased the upgrade to v.X on October 26, 2006 for 2/3 the price that I'm being offered today. They're offereing one new feature that looks interesting: Groups.

Drag and drop references into groups just as you do with playlists of music.

However, there is a world of difference between interesting and forking out $90 for an upgrade... There's also a world of difference between looking interesting on paper and having any real world relevance. In my case, with over 5000 entries in my main library creating groups would probably be more bother than it's worth. I'll be sitting this one, and probably several more, out.

[Grorgy]

Could be worth checking, if you haven't already, if the university (or the college) you are at has a deal going with them, where I am they provide endnote for us, free so long as we are students, ( endnote 9 at present, but at that price who cares) .

[Darwin]

I've been envious of Australian University students free access to Endnote for years! My current university is in England and I am in Canada with an expired student card. The academic version through the University is about the same price as my last upgrade, anyway (and I am sure I'll be offered XI at a steeper discount when this promo expires on August 31). I actually sprang for the full version of Endnote 9 after having used an <clears throat and dabs nervously at forehead with a handkerchief> illegal copy of first Endnote 3 and then 4 for years. Anyway, as I stated, I'm fine with Endnote X.0.2. Of course, I was very happy with Endnote 9, too, so I'm in no rush to upgrade.

[Curt]

I am feeling a little uneasy with the price, $240

$240 = $300 incl the taxes around here.
The Swedish Scandinavian distributor's price (for version X) is sek 2,575
minus a 10% "new site discount", but plus taxes, making it:
2575 - 10%(257.50) = 2,317.50 _ plus taxes (x 1.25) = 2,896.875
sek 2896.875 =  US$373

$373 is mighty expensive, I think. What is so great about this program?

[Grorgy]

well, the version i have with the options from the library let me browse libraries all over the world, build a bibliography and import it into a word processor, its overkill by about 200 fold for what i need lol, but i thought i'd have a play while i wasnt too busy, and i  was talking to a librarian who said he might, one day, have a look at it, sso unless you're into serious research (post grad or higher type of stuff)and like the program i wouldnt bother with it.  I would guess its so expensive because, like specialised text books, there is only a limited market

[Darwin]

It does two things for me: manages all of my bibliography - including formatting and inserting references into my papers (and compiling the references cited/bibliography at the end) and PhD thesis and it organises, manages, and stores all of my pdfs (this second feature is on of the reasons I upgraded to v.X - with hindsight, I wouldn't bother).

[bugis]

I have endnote 9 currently (free from my university) and it is quite good, but some parts of the interface could be streamlined and made more intuitive, I feel. It took me quite a while to figure out a lot of the features, and even now, I am not 100% comfortable with some...especially when messing with a near finalized fully formatted and referenced manuscript, i get really jittery .  But I cannot live without it...indispensible for my PhD thesis and papers.

[Darwin]

Another person with a gratis copy of Endnote! Colour me GREEN! Anyway, sadly, the interface in Endnote v.X is largely unchanged since version 3 (the first I used) and nothing in the screenshots I've seen of v. XI indicates that much has changed there, either.

Here's a screen grab from the manual for XI:

[attachthumb=#]

Here's the "what's new" page from Endnote, if you're interested in the changes introduced in the latest release...

The feature I'd been wanting prior to v.XI's release - a "quick search" bar in the toolbar, visible to the right of the screenshot above - made it in, but it's not worth $90 to me (by late fall this price might have dropped to the $60 range but even then I'm not sure I'm interested). Given that I'm more than comfortable hitting CTRL-F to accomplish the same thing paying to upgrade for this feature wouldn't really make sense.

What's the PhD on, bugis, and have you voted in the How many students are active here (instead of writing up?!)?

[bugis]

What's the PhD on, bugis, and have you voted in the How many students are active here (instead of writing up?!)?

Hehe I dont think I would have shelled out the cash for EN9, if the univ library didn't provide all students with a free copy. So I don't know what I would have done.

I agree, the minor improvements are not worth the $$$ for the upgrade. As it stands, ver 9 does what I need (and more!) just fine..my main gripe is only with the interface, but lets see..if the univ upgrades it license, I wont mind updating. Usually there is a 1-2 year lag between the release of a new EN version and our univ licensing it. We got EN 9 only earlier this year IIRC, until then we were on the buggy ver 7.

Thanks for the heads up on the thread. I have not posted there yet, will do so. I am currently doing my PhD in materials engineering.

[tjowens]

Have you guys tried out the open source solution to the Endnote treadmill. http://www.zotero.org

"Zotero is an easy-to-use yet powerful research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), and lets you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. An extension to the popular open-source web browser Firefox, Zotero includes the best parts of older reference manager software (like EndNote)—the ability to store author, title, and publication fields and to export that information as formatted references—and the best parts of modern software and web applications (like iTunes and del.icio.us), such as the ability to interact, tag, and search in advanced ways. Zotero integrates tightly with online resources; it can sense when users are viewing a book, article, or other object on the web, and—on many major research and library sites—find and automatically save the full reference information for the item in the correct fields. Since it lives in the web browser, it can effortlessly transmit information to, and receive information from, other web services and applications; since it runs on one’s personal computer, it can also communicate with software running there (such as Microsoft Word). And it can be used offline as well (e.g., on a plane, in an archive without WiFi)."

Check out the screencast http://www.zotero.org/videos/tour/zotero_tour.htm

[Darwin]

I've dabbled VERY minimally with zotero. Being so used to Endnote (and having sprung for a full licence and an upgrade and having so much invested in its format), I'm loathe to migrate my data into something new and then having to learn it... Another alternative discussed elsewhere is IdeaMason, however it is most definitely NOT free/opensource! George (Grorgy) was running a trial of this at one point - perhaps he can comment?

[Grorgy]

I sure can but not a lot yet, I've bought IdeaMason and I really like it, it is however a complex beast and I havent worked it all out, It has options to do just about anything I might want to do in the way of idea sorting tagging and so on, but I don't see it as a replacement for those tools like endnote certainly as it stores data in a proprietary format that requires Ideamason to be on the computer you are using. (endnote may use its own format to, i don't know, but it seems to be a common application around universities and the like).  So far I've only used it on one essay but like Douglas Adams, I seem to like the sound that deadlines make as they whoosh past, so i went back to just finishing it off in word, only a day late  ) After the exams are over I'm going to have another go at it without the pressure of actually trying to meet a deadline and will be able to dig through its options, but my initial impression as an undergraduate student it will, i think, meet all my needs for sorting tagging categorizing references and so on that i need and of course it can be used as a journal keeper to do list, all of those sort of things, though you wouldn't buy it to do those functions alone, once i've moved on from studying (if i do, might retire as a student yet lol)

[Darwin]

Interesting - thanks George! I was sort of tempted by it when it was offered on Bits du Jour but held off as I couldn't quite see what I'd be gaining in switching to it (and I've already got a veritable graveyard of note taking apps that I download, trial, get enthusiastic about and stop using within 3 or 4 months buying  ).

[Grorgy]

It sounds like you have it all pretty much sorted out in a way that works for you already Darwin, I'm becoming a firm believer in 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' (especially after 2 reinstalls of windows in around a week lol grrrrr) and unless there is a compelling reason to change I wouldn't, and as you say it inst free, though given its functionality i don't think its over priced at all (and they have it on sale at the moment and with student discounts to)  So if someone is just starting out, its certainly worth a look and if your system just inst working for you then yes, again worth a look, but if your system is working for you you can spend the money on other more exciting programs and the time taken to learn it looking for those programs 

[Darwin]

As happens all too often, my thoughts have been expressed far better by someone other than me! George, you are course entirely correct - IdeaMason looks incredible and if I was just starting out I would consider it a very strong candidate for purchase and incorporation into my workflow.