Help and Support: EndNote 21 Guide: Managing your library

Managing your EndNote library

Searching references

You can quickly search your complete EndNote library for a reference:

Click on All References.
Type the author surname or keyword in the search box located in the toolbar & press the Enter key.

For more options when searching, use the Search panel. To access this search panel:

Maximise your library window.
Select Advanced search
Use the drop-down menu to choose the field you want to search (e.g. author, abstract, keyword etc.)
Choose PDF from the field menu to restrict your search to the attached PDF files; Any Field + PDF to search any field and all PDFs.
Use Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) to combine words and an asterisk (*) for truncation, e.g. pregnan* finds pregnancy, pregnant.
Tick Match Case only if searching for specific capitalisation of the words.
Tick Match Words only if searching for specific references containing exactly those words.
Use + to add a search line; - to delete a search line.
Click Search. The retrieved references will appear in a temporary Search Results group.

Arrangement of columns on home screen

To make other changes to the EndNote display in the main library window:

Go to Edit > Preferences > Display Fields
Use the drop-down menus to change what is displayed in a column, then click OK.
To revert to the original settings, click Revert Panel > OK.

Sort columns

When you open your EndNote library you will see the different parts of each reference displayed under headings such as Author, Year, Title, Journal etc.
Clicking on any of these headings enables you to order your references via this part either alphabetically or chronologically.

To reverse the order click the arrow head that appears in the heading that currently determines the order.

Sort Library

Select the Library tab from the very top menu
Select Sort Library
Use the pop out menu to sort

Sort menu

Organising References Using Groups

EndNote allows to organise your references into Groups, so you will not need to create separate libraries for subsets of references. Groups appear on the left panel under My Library, and can be renamed or deleted. They can also further organised in Group Sets and moved between Group Sets.

The same reference can be added to several different groups, and references deleted from a group will always remain available in All References.

Custom Groups

Custom Groups can be used to manually group references.

Select Groups > Create Group.
Enter a name for the group.
Click on All References to view the references in your library. Highlight references you wish to add to the Group (use the Ctrl key to select multiple references).
Select Groups > Add References to > Group name.

Group Sets

Group Sets allow you to organise your numerous groups:

Select Groups > Create Group Set OR right click on My Groups > Create Group Set.
Enter a name for the Group Set.
To create new groups under the Group Set: right click on the Group Set, select Create Group and enter a name.
To add existing groups to the Group Set: left click on a group and drag to the Group Set.

Smart Groups

Smart Groups will automatically add references to a group with specific criteria:

Select Groups > Create Smart Group.
A search box will appear. Enter a name in the Smart Group Name box.
Enter criteria for your search using the drop-down menus and text boxes.
Click Create.
A new Group will appear under Smart Groups in the left panel.
Every new reference added to your library will automatically be added to the Smart Group if it meets the criteria you set.

Orgainising References Using Tags

Tags are labels that allow you to organise your references easily.

You can add tags to references, customising the colour and name of the tags (e.g., topics: Marine Mammals – blue; projects: Design Thinking S1 – gold; publication types: Systematic Reviews – green; assignments: Assignment 2 - purple).

Multiple tags can be added to a reference.

Example of multiple tags added to references

Tags and the number of references assigned each tag can be viewed in the left hand menu.

Click on a tag to view all references assigned to one tag.

Example of references assigned to one tag

Create a tag; select colour

Create Tags

To create a Tag:

Click on the + beside the heading My Tags in the left hand menu
Name your new Tag
Assign a colour
Click on Create Tag

Adding Tags When Creating a New Reference

Tags can be added when a reference is created or edited:

Click on the Manage tags button
Search for, or select a tag from the Available tags list
Click on OK

Manage tags button

Adding Tags to an Existing Reference

Add a Tag to an existing reference

Double-click a reference to open the Summary pane
Select the Edit tab
Click on the Manage tags button
Search for, or select a tag from the Available tags list
Click OK

Add tag to existing reference

1. Highlight the reference you want to delete.

2. Go to References > Move References to Trash.

You can assign your references a rating scale according to your own criteria. Highlight the reference and click in the Rating column to add the number of stars required.

You can search your library for all references of a certain rating. Go to the Search Panel, then select Rating from the dropdown menu. Choose the rating number of stars, then click Search.