Accessing Our Research Bibliographies Online: Better or Just Different?

This is an exploratory case study of the relationship between bibliography software and user preference regarding bibliographic database management. The research focus centers on what makes the new online bibliographic software (RefWorks) attractive to academic users compared to other offline bibliographic software packages, such as EndNote and ProCite. In order to re-formulate this question in a testable form, interviews with 16 higher education faculty and advanced graduate students (online, offline, or synchronized users) are conducted for exploring potential research questions regarding user characteristics and preference towards bibliographic database maintenance and technology. Though not statistically confirmed, there seems to be a slight preference for offline programs like EndNote among offline and synchronized users while there is a preference for online programs like RefWorks among online users. Copyright: Kilic, Yu, Jannasch-Pennell & DiGangi (2006). This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the authors. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors