BibTeX, biblatex and biber ⇒ RefWorks and BibTeX

[stevebrown]

Hi,

I use RefWorks (RW) to manage my referencing and export data as a BibTex-RefWorks ID. However, in RW I complete the reference as to whether it is a journal, website, book etc. But, when I export the data RW only seems to recognize and export journals, report and books. All other formats become 'Misc' and hence does not show the URL, date accessed etc. Thus, when I compile the bibliography there is a lot of missing data (bit which is completed in RW)

Is there a solution to this, or do I need to consider using an alternative reference package which exports the details correctly, as entered in RW. I would prefer to keep with RW (as I am now familiar with it) but need to find a solution to incomplete bibliographies. I guess the question is, how do I ensure that the exported file keeps the same format as previously entered in RW?

Any help or ideas would be most appreciated,


Best wishes,
Steve

[nicksy]

Hi I use RW too and just used it with Bibtex for my dissertation (Harvard-style bibliography).

I will post again later with my solution to the @misc for webpages as I don't have the final version where I sorted these problems with me here, but here are some other things I learnt:

Journal articles and conference proceedings pass across fine, however entering a section/chapter in a(n edited) book:
RW manages this nicely with the correct fields but when printing to BibTex it outputs the entry as @inbook{} and then LaTeX does not print all necessary fields. If you manually change the BibTex entry to @incollection{} the correct reference should be produced by LaTeX.

When there is an amperesand (or other) symbol in a title or the publisher, e.g. Taylor & Francis, you will need to write the RW entry like you were writing LaTeX, e.g Taylor $\&$ Francis.


If you need to make changes to your BibTex file, do it when you have obtained all sources, else you will be doing it over and over each time you download a new file from RW. Alternatively, just view the created BibTex file on-line and then copy-paste your newest entries (this is the method I will employ now).


Some pages I found useful:

Basics of RW-LaTeX with some common problems
http://libguides.mit.edu/content.php?pi ... sid=406273

The different BibTex fields and how to use them (i.e. if you were writing it manually) - may help you understand the RW output
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX

If you are new to LaTeX citations, here are the different ways:
http://merkel.zoneo.net/Latex/natbib.php

Nicky

[stevebrown]

Thanks Nicky, that's really helpful. The links are really useful, and have really helped me understand the different of citing documents.

Which bib style package do you use? I currently use a 'custom' package from a colleague, but maybe I should revert to a well known package.

When you do find a solution to the URL issue that would be great if you are happy to share this.

Many thanks,

Steve

[nicksy]

Sorry for taking so long to get back. After finalising my document I manually changed all my @misc{} references to the most appropriate. My webpages had the following format:

Code: Select all

@techreport{RefWorks:#,
	author="{....}",
	year="{....}",
	title="{....}",
	note="{[Online] Available from: \url{http://www.xyz.com}. (Accessed: 22 August 2011)}"

(of course this follows the Harvard style for webpage access notes) The use of \url puts a hyperlink around the encased URL to the webpage. I think you need both \usepackage{html} and \usepackage{url} to make it work.

The @misc from unpublished works was changed to @unpublished

I also changed the @inproceedings to @conference.

I eventually had to make my own Bib style file to fulfil my University's requirements. I think this would be the best option for everyone to get the 'perfect' bibliography, it is quite simple to do. You just need to type "latex makebst" into your command line and then the Bib style file creator will guide you through the steps and your available options.

This WikiBooks article has an overview of the makebst and also I think where I got how to include URLs in the bibliography.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Bibl ... Management

Good luck,

Nicky

(currently preparing my 2nd latex document)

[stevebrown]

Thanks Nicki, this seems like a workaround good solution. I think I just need to accept the limitations of Refworks. I would prefer not to have to edit all the references but perhaps it is actually good practice to to this. Thanks so much for your help and have a great day.