Dear Colleagues,

There has been mention of a few different citation managers on this list in the last year or so, and I am hoping to find out more about people's experiences with switching tools. My library is re-evaluating which platforms we subscribe to and provide education on, and we would like input from anyone who has transitioned from one tool to another at a library/institutional level (e.g. RefWorks to Mendeley). Some of the things we would like would like to know are:


1.       What platforms did you transition to/from, and what factors led you to decide to switch?

2.       Once you had decided to switch, what worked and what didn't in terms of communicating the transition to your community?

3.       How much blowback, if any, did you receive from your community during and after the transition?

4.       Any other experiences or advice you have!

For context, we are an academic health sciences library and we currently subscribe to RefWorks. Our institution recently began offering discounted EndNote licenses, so there is also widespread EndNote use on campus. Due to increasing frustrations with and concerns about RefWorks, we are looking to potentially broaden our support of free options like Mendeley and Zotero, especially for students (who lose access to subscription-based tools when they graduate). We would appreciate any input you have on this topic!

Regards,
Emily

Emily Gorman, MLIS, AHIP
Research, Education, and Outreach Librarian
School of Pharmacy Librarian
Health Sciences and Human Services Library
University of Maryland, Baltimore
601 W. Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Phone: 410-706-8875
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>