Importing from Reference Manager and Reprint status?

EndNote EndNote How To
1

Hello:  I have used Reference Manger for more than 25 years but decided to switch to EndNote because RM has become less functional in recent years.  I have two databases (libraries) in RM: one with 44,000 references and one with 19,000 references.  My concern was how to get all of them imported into EndNote without losing diacritical marks, as seems to occur if you export from RM using the RIS format.  I have seen some messages about this in both RM and EndNote forums. After some experimentation, today I found that exporting from RM in XML format and then choosing “EndNote generated XML” in the Import Option area (File:Import) seems to preserve the diacritical marks, at least as far as I have checked.

I tracked how much time it took to import the first ca. 31,000 references into EndNote.  I exported the references into three files (ca. 4,000, 8,000, and 19,000 references).  The smallest file took about 6 1/2 min, the mid-sized file took 14 min, and the largest file took 70 min to import.  The bigger files took a lot longer to import, so I am completing my importation effort with files of <5,000 references.  The proportion of references in a file with attached pdf files probably affected the import time.

I am exporting from Reference Manager Vers 12.0.3 (Bld 3262) and importing into Endonote X5 Bld 5478.

One question:  Is there any way to track the reprint status of each reference (other than by whether or not a pdf is attached)?  In RM there is a field called “Reprint” that offers three choices: “In File”, Not in File", and On Request".  It was handy to keep track of which articles I had requested from Interlibrary Loan (“On Request”).  Also, I started using reference software in order to keep track of the articles in the journals I subscribed to.  In RM I marked those as “In File”, but they do not have a pdf attached.  References I have added, but for which I have no pdf and which are not in a journal issue I have are marked as “Not in File”.  Easy to find the articles you need to search for or to request.  Anybody know of a like feature in EndNote?

Thanks for your attention, and I’m sure I’ll be back as I start to use EndNote for writing manuscripts.

Dan

2

There isn’t a preset field with that info, but you can always create one. 

Also you could then have an smart field that sorted them into 3 subgroups based on that field or sort based on that field by including it in the library display and clicking on the header. 

You could even apply a term list to that custom field to give you “hints” for the three different options as you type. 

I think you may find the endnote help index and search will be extremely helpful in finding out how to do all this, but if you need some direction, on this or other tricks and tips, do let us other friendly users know!

3

Leanne:

You offerred an excellent solution!  It took me no time at all to figure out how to do what you suggested.  I now have a smart field for indicating reprint status.  Now all I need is time to locate all 4893 references that I don’t have in hand and enter “Not In File” in my new field.  I suppose I could export a text file and change that field.  Hmmmm, gotta think about it.

On further inspection, my XML export/import solution to keeping diacritical marks seems to have failed me on Greek characters (“alpha”, “beta”, etc.).  I’ll just have to be very careful to inspect each reference when I start using CWYW with EndNote.

Thank you for your help.  I’m sure that I’ll be back with more questions.

4

If you search for those that have stuff in the field, then Ref>show all, Ref> Hide selected, you will be left with the empty field records, and you can globally edit those to contain “Not in File”.  (tools> change and move fields)  You can also just sort on that field, hide those at the bottom, and edit the rest.