Mendeley Introduction Guide

Transcription

1 Mendeley Introduction Guide June 2017 Mendeley allows you to collect, manage, share and use references you find in the course of your research. It can be used with Word to add citations and produce a reference list within a document. Mendeley has a web-based element that can be used with any Internet browser; however you need to use the desktop element to use the Word add-on. Mendeley is freely available and is available on staff and student PCs. Mendeley also has an app for ios and Android devices, so you can access your library on-the-go and even read and annotate PDF documents that you have in your library offline. Mendeley s strengths include: Web-based version which is simple to use combined with a desktop version that gives you more features Ability to store and manage full text PDFs within your library, and to annotate them Ability to create bibliographies and cite while you write with a Word add-on Ability to share references with other Mendeley users, either completely openly or as part of a closed group You will find a wide range of instructional videos on Mendeley s YouTube channel Create your own Mendeley account Go to and click on Create account. The account is for free. Set up your account by entering your details. After you have set it up you will be presented with the option to download Mendeley Desktop. If you are logged into a campus PC you do not need to download the software as it is already available on your PC (You will find it under the Start Menu>All Programmes). References which you save to Mendeley web version will be available under the Library tab (initially your library will be empty until you begin to add references) 1

2 Click on the blue Add button to add articles. Mendeley Desktop Compared to the web version of Mendeley, the Mendeley Desktop version has more functionalities and allows you to work off-line, too. If you work on campus Mendeley Desktop is already installed on your computer. To open it click on the Windows Start button and look for Mendeley in Programmes. If you want to use Mendeley Desktop on your own computer or laptop, go to: and sign in. Click on the arrow in the right top corner and select Download Mendeley. Mendeley is available to a wide range of operating systems, including Mac and Linux. 2

3 Adding PDF Documents to Mendeley To add a pdf document to Mendeley Desktop click on Add files The explorer window will open and you can navigate to the folder where your PDF file is stored and add it. When you add the PDF, Mendeley usually analyses the document and automatically extracts the information necessary for referencing. This information is displayed on the right next to the pdf and can be edited if not correct. You can also add other file types such as Word documents or PowerPoint presentations. Information needed for referencing which is automatically extracted from the added PDF. 3

4 Your Library on Mendeley Desktop By adding PDF files for articles, reports, e-books and other documents to Mendeley you build your own library. The files can be organised in folders. Click on the Create a new folder icon to create a new folder and drag and drop the article to the folder. You can list all the documents in the library by clicking on All Documents. Reading and Annotating PDF Documents If you want to open and article to read it just double-click on the title in your library. Mendeley allows you to select text and copy/paste it to other applications, to highlight text and to make notes in the text. 4

5 Synchronising your Library Whenever you add PDFs to your library, don t forget to synchronise it. Clicking on the Sync button uploads all your articles to the Mendeley Web version. If you use Mendeley on a different computer or if you use the app, synchronising makes sure that you always have the most recent version of your library from wherever you access it. Any annotations you made will also be uploaded. Using the MS Word Plug in The MS Word Plug in allows to you to cite while you write. This means you can add citations (both in text citations and references) while you are writing in a Word document. The plug in won t be installed automatically on campus PCs. If you want to use this feature open the Mendeley desktop application, go to Tools and click on Install MS Word Plugin 5

6 Once the Word Plugin is installed you will find it in Word under the References tab. If you open Word after installing the plugin you will notice that there is a yellow security warning bar. Click Enable Content Once the content is enabled you will see Mendeley in your Reference tab. Please note, that after installing the Mendeley Word-Plug in, this Security Warning bar will appear whenever you open a Word document. By clicking on Enable Content it will disappear. 6

7 Working with the Word Plug In 1. Insert Citation Click on the Insert Citation icon and search for the author or title of the article or book you want to cite. Once the article appears, select the one you want (you can also select more than one) and click OK 7

8 The in text citation will be added. You can change the citation style by clicking on the Style dropdown list. To insert the bibliography, move the cursor to the end of the page and then click on Insert Bibliography. This will automatically add the full reference of the cited article. New citations will be automatically added to this bibliography. 8

9 Support You can find additional information on how to use Mendeley on and on Mendeley s YouTube Channel If you need help, please contact: Manfred Gschwandtner Learning and Research Librarian for Health and Wellbeing Based in Augustine House E: manfred.gschwandtner@canterbury.ac.uk T: T: