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For this review I attended a Endnote class at the library, I’ve been putting this off for a while because I thought I should be able to teach myself using online tutorial. Although whenever I do realise my references are getting out of control its usually to late, and I’m too busy to sit down and take that time to do it myself. So for me attending this class was a way of locking in a time and place for this activity. At first I looked at the 2 hour run time and thought it was either going to be really basic with a lot of individual help time or extremely complicated and fast moving. I’m happy to report that it was neither of these things but rather a happy medium between the two.
The class started off in quite a flurry, the teacher was moving very quickly through the set up process with people still arriving it got a bit crazy. There was also the difficulty of accommodating those of us with macs, the class is taught on PC so it was always just a little bit different and took us a bit longer to figure out the where everything was. After we were all set up with a few basics under our belt the instructor gave us a brief history of the software and played a video demonstrating some of the advanced feature of the software. This however is a beginners class so this was more to demonstrate where we could go with the software. After this we moved through more of the basics that we would need to get going.
To be honest I can’t tell if this was a one off kind of day or if the instructor is some kind of secret genius. I felt like at first we were thrown in the deep end a bit, then we were pulled back out to get some big picture perspective before methodically moving through the basics of the software. And before you know it vola! Two hours have passed and you know Endnote. It was surprisingly effective, honestly I thought the touch and go beginning would have thrown some people but the overall vibe I got was primarily positive.
I felt by the end of the class I had conquered the main components of Endnote and we were also shown the best places to find help as we continue to use the software. I did wonder though for those who really do need more complex personal help where they could go without having to sit through another beginner class? One small criticism I would have is that the instructor was a bit gruff and short with us at first which I could see was stressing out some of the participants who were already a bit flustered. The instructor did apologise for this at the end of the class and for the most part was very informative and encouraging. The main criticism I have though is QUT’s lack of Mac support in these classes, I mean the instructor did the best he could but even he acknowledged that QUT really could do a better job especially considering close to half the class were mac users. Overall it was a very positive experience, I really feel quite comfortable and confident with the software.
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Learning to use EndNote is one of things on my to-do list that I’ve never quite gotten to! Do you think using EndNote will save you a lot of time when writing assignments? Is it most appropriate for lengthy assignments with lots of references or do you think there is value for the shorter ones too? I would be interested in your feedback – maybe I should get organised and get to a class myself!!
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Hi Steph,
Using Endnote is also on my to do list although a little apprehensive about it. I would be keen to know how useful it is and how much more it provides than the standard referencing tools available in word. In truth I have been know to write a 4000 word essay with my own kind of in text code and get my teenage son to add the referencing for me later on. Definitely keen to find a better way.
Caitlin
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Hi Shannon and Caitlin,
I think Endnote is going to save me heaps of time with assignments. I’m generally pretty terrible at keeping track of references so in that respect its a lifesaver, trying to remember if I saved it in a bookmark or just copied the reference somewhere was one of my main problems, so now I have a process where I just straight up put it into endnote. I think it could potentially work fine for small assignments, I mean obviously its more for the big ones but its so quick to just click add reference, select from a drop down menu and it formulates it for you and puts it into the reference list. For me the best thing is that it is integrated into word so there really is no messing around or time wasting. Basically I think If you have a system that works for you then thats great but I didn’t and I need all the help I can get. Also generally by the end of a assignment I’m really over it so I get really slopping with my reference list, its a bad habit.
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I read your review with interest, as I too have been considering doing an Endnote class. I half use it but don’t feel I use it to its full potential. After reading your review I’ll definitely make time for this class. I wonder if the library should do separate classes for PC and MAC users, as just by sitting in lectures, I can see that about 0% of students, along with most of the lecturers have MACs. All in all it was an informative, well-written review.
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Hi Steph,
This is a great post! I did an endnote class through QUT at the hospital in my last year of undergrad and it has all fallen by the way side – i do not remember a single thing. This has been encouraging as i think not only for the experience of the class but has LIS student that this would be beneficial. I am on a Mac platform as well. Hopefully they will encourage this a bit more in the future.
Sam. -
Hi Steph, I enjoyed reading your post and can actually relate to a lot of what you said. I attended an EndNote workshop in semester 1 and had a similar experience. It was quite confusing at first, but the basics stuck and now I am happy to have the skill to manage my references. I like using EndNote and never looked back…Thanks for your post.
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Hi Steph
Thanks for the review. I attended one of the library’s Endnote classes last year and found it really useful. I had tried to teach myself how to use it but I also needed help with some of the basics so that I could be confident I wasn’t going to lose all my references. Being a Mac user I was also frustrated by how there was no reference to the Mac version of Endnote. They are similar but there is a lot missing from the Mac version compared to the PC version. I highly recommend everyone do an Endnote course as it will definitely save your bacon when writing assignments. There are a few handouts on the QUT website as well if anyone is interested in learning a bit more about the software.
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