I want to bookmark RefWorks in my web browser to make it easier to access. What address should I bookmark?
If you want to bookmark RefWorks on your home computer to make it easier for you to use frequently, make sure you bookmark our UW-specific RefWorks address. Here's how to do it:

In Internet Explorer: right click on this "RefWorks" link and select "Add to Favorites", or click and drag the link to your "Links" toolbar. You might see a security alert that the "favorite may not be safe", although it is. Click "yes" to continue.

In Mozilla/Firefox: right click on this "RefWorks" link and select "Bookmark This Link", or click and drag the link to your "Bookmarks" toolbar.

In Safari: Click and drag this "RefWorks" link to your "Bookmarks" bar.

Note: The links toolbar may not be visible in all setups and in most browsers, you can enable it in the View->Toolbars menu of your web browser. You can also put it in your bookmarks instead of the links toolbar.

Could you give me the group code for the RefWorks login?
We don't use a group code for off-campus access to RefWorks here at UW; instead, you use your UW NetID and password to log in to RefWorks, whether you're on campus or off. If you are prompted for a group code, click on the small link to "Shibboleth users" below the login box.  Then select "University of Washington" from the dropdown box, and click "login."  You will then be able to log in with your UW NetID and password.

The login screen you see should look something like this:

When I enter my UW NetID and password, I am told that I have made an invalid entry.
In order to use RefWorks and Write-n-Cite, you need to use a special login page for universities that are using their institutional logins (at UW, that’s the UW NetID).When the RefWorks or Write-n-Cite login screen appears, click on the small link to "Shibboleth users" below the login box.  Then select "University of Washington" from the dropdown box, and click "login."  You will then be able to log in with your UW NetID and password.

The login screen you see should look something like this:

How do I convert my old RefWorks account to UW NetID?
UW Libraries switched over to using UW NetIDs for RefWorks accounts in January, 2008. If you set up a RefWorks account before that date, you'll have to convert your existing account so that it uses UW NetID login. It's easy to do by following our step-by-step instructions, and you will only have to follow these steps once.

When I converted my RefWorks account to my UW NetID, it seems to have created a brand-new account, and none of my old references are there. How can I get my references back?
Thanks for bearing with us as we switch over to the new UW NetID log-in system! Occasionally, the conversion process does end up creating a second brand-new account for you, rather than attaching your older RefWorks account to your UW NetID login. When this happens, you need to log in to your old account and then manually transfer the citations into your new, UW NetID-enabled account. Note: These instructions will only work from computers on a UW campus.

Go to this link for RefWorks and log in using the your OLD RefWorks username and password (the one you created yourself).You should see your old account, with all the references you put into it.

Using these instructions, back up your old account (all references, folders, RSS feeds, and other content will be copied).

Using the same instructions, restore your backed-up account into your new, empty, UW NetID-enabled account.

Important: If you have already put references in your new account, backing up and restoring your old account will delete these references. Instead, you should export your old references in RefWorks tagged format and import them into your new RefWorks account, choosing "RefWorks tagged format" as the Import Filter/Data Source.

How do I get records from a particular database into RefWorks?
Check out our handy directions for importing records from some of the most used databases at UW.

I’ve just installed Microsoft Vista and Word 2007, and Write-n-Cite doesn’t work now.
Previous versions of Write-n-Cite are not compatible with Microsoft Vista or Word 2007. RefWorks has now released a beta version of Write-n-Cite III for Windows, which does work with Vista and Word 2007. You can download Write-n-Cite III for Windows here.

I’ve just installed Word 2008 on my Mac, and now Write-n-Cite doesn’t work.
Write-n-Cite will work with Mac Word 2008 as long as you save the file with the older .doc extension instead of the newer .docx extension. If you save files with the newer file extension, it won’t work.

I don’t use Microsoft Word. Can I still use Write-n-Cite?
The Write-n-Cite utility only works with Microsoft Word. If you’re using another word processing program, you can still format citations and bibliographies for your papers using the One Line/Cite View method.

Can I  import information about web pages into RefWorks?
Yes! RefWorks’ RefGrab-It is a tool that works with your web browser to capture citation information from web pages.

I’m working on a group project.  Can we share a RefWorks account?
You can create secondary, group RefWorks accounts, but those accounts cannot be accessed from off-campus locations at this time. We are working with RefWorks to develop off-campus access to multiple accounts through UW NetID login.

Does UW subscribe to the “RefShare” feature?
Yes, we do. RefShare allows you to share your entire RefWorks database or just specific folders from the  database with other users. Please remember that the data in folders you share may be protected by copyright or subject to license restrictions. Check with the appropriate database provider(s) to ensure that you comply with any restrictions such provider(s) may impose upon downloading or sharing of the information.

Can I attach documents, files, or images to records in my RefWorks account?
Yes, RefWorks now allows you to attach files to records in your RefWorks database, up to a limit of 100 MB per account.

Can I share attachments through RefShare?
No, any files you have attached to records in your RefWorks account will not be available to others through RefShare.

I use EndNote. Is it easy to switch to RefWorks?
It is fairly easy to switch to RefWorks from other bibliographic management programs like EndNote. RefWorks provides specific instructions
for importing citations from EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager, or other software.

RefWorks, EndNote -- what’s the difference?
RefWorks and EndNote's web-based service, EndNoteWeb, are both online web-based services that provide the ability to create and manage personal databases of bibliographic citations. Some people prefer RefWorks, and some prefer EndNote. Check out our comparison chart (in pdf format) to see a side-by-side comparison of the two services’ features.

I'm graduating and leaving UW. Can I take my RefWorks citations with me?
UW provides access to RefWorks for all campus users, but not for graduates. If you are leaving UW, there are several ways you can retain access to your citations:

• If you are going to continue using RefWorks at another institution or through an individual subscription, you can use RefWorks' Backup/Restore feature to back up your database and move it to your new account.
• If you will not continue to have access to RefWorks or will be switching to another citation manager such as EndNote or Reference Manager, you should use the Export feature of RefWorks.
  
  

I read through this entire FAQ and my question wasn’t answered! Now what?
Ask your question though our “Ask a Librarian” form and a member of the Libraries staff will contact you. Please be as specific as possible with your question – the more details you can provide us (such as whether you’re on a UW campus or not, or whether you got an error message and what that message said), the more quickly we’ll be able to diagnose and fix your problem.