Most Valuable App COULD be Even Better

EndNote EndNote Product Suggestions
1

I am a medical oncologist and I read the peer-reviewed literature voraciously, consuming about 100 read articles per month in the form of PDFs. 

I started using EndNote many years ago as a way to format my bibliography but with the online AND local functions of EndNote I am using EndNote every day and for many hours a day.  I recommend EndNote not only to all my physician and basic science colleagues but also to my patients who are comfortable with technology.  So, with this intro, I feel compelled to offer my recommendations to make EndNote absolutely more wonderful than it currently is:

1. I am a Mac user and converted from the PC after much resistance.  I cannot imagine anyone using a PC anymore.  But EndNote on the Mac is colorless.  Make the icons colorful. 

  1. On the online side of EndNote automatically bring the User to the Online Search: PubMed area. I often forget to do this and end up with no search findings and then realize I am not actively in PubMed.  This is a no-brainer recommendation. 

  2. Note that despite 32gigs of RAM, that if I use EndNote for hours at a time, the search mechanism degenerates and nothing is found. First I thought the article did not exist but after exiting EndNote and restarting the app the searches were found, and also found more quickly.  Someone needs to pay attention to this and fix it. 

  3. On the local library side, I wish EndNote would give the User an option to a default format when opening a new library. I like the R-preview display.  

  4. Last for now, I use bold, underline and both bold and underline in annotating the abstract of an article. I wish I could also have the option to color code any part of the abstract as well.  

That’s enough for now.  Don’t know (don’t think) that my recommendations will result in any changes but I am probably the most enthusiastic spokesperson for EndNote that is a clinician and that uses EndNote to alter the lives of my patients. 

My regards, 

Stephen

Stephen B. Strum, MD, FACP 

Jacksonville, Oregon 97530

Board Certified: Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology since 1973

ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) since 1975

AUA (American Urological Association) since 1998

ASTRO (American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology)  since 2002 

2

My endorsements and comments are below (Leanne) 

@sbstrum wrote:

 

So, with this intro, I feel compelled to offer my recommendations to make EndNote absolutely more wonderful than it currently is:

 

1. I am a Mac user and converted from the PC after much resistance.  I cannot imagine anyone using a PC anymore.  But EndNote on the Mac is colorless.  Make the icons colorful. (LMW – I am a PC user, unlikely to switch and the recent conversion of X8 to the monchrome “mac” style is tedious at best.  I miss the colors and find the icons hard to locate, especially the insert arrow being replaced with quotes!)  

 

  1. On the online side of EndNote automatically bring the User to the Online Search: PubMed area. I often forget to do this and end up with no search findings and then realize I am not actively in PubMed.  This is a no-brainer recommendation. (LMW AMEN!  – I have been frustrated by this forever! and the no matching error is so misleading!) 

 

  1. Note that despite 32gigs of RAM, that if I use EndNote for hours at a time, the search mechanism degenerates and nothing is found. First I thought the article did not exist but after exiting EndNote and restarting the app the searches were found, and also found more quickly.  Someone needs to pay attention to this and fix it. 

 

  1. On the local library side, I wish EndNote would give the User an option to a default format when opening a new library. I like the R-preview display.  (mine doesn’t seem to remember my favorite setting anymore)

 

  1. Last for now, I use bold, underline and both bold and underline in annotating the abstract of an article. I wish I could also have the option to color code any part of the abstract as well.  (don’t really use this, but it certainly couldn’t hurt!)

 

 

My regards, 

Stephen