Reference management (German)
The use of a reference management program is recommended for any type of academic work. You can save a lot of time and nerves by using it!
Reference management programmes enable:
- the systematic collection and management of information about literature (books, articles, etc.)
- automatic citation (in texts or as footnotes)
- the creation of a bibliography
- direct import of sources from the library catalogue and databases
Trainings
The ULB offers regular introductory courses on the use of EndNote and Zotero. Further information is also available on this website.
Please note:
- EndNote is available for Windows and MacOS.
- Zotero is free for Windows and MacOS, but a paid subscription is required to sync your library between devices. The ULB does not currently provide a campus license for Zotero storage space.
Important information about the Citavi campus licence
In 2023, the provider's pricing policy has developed in a direction that the ULB can no longer and will no longer accept. In November 2023, we decided to extend the license for one year and informed users about the impending end of the license. This allowed us to enable Citavi users at HHU to complete their projects with Citavi or to give them sufficient time to make an orderly switch to another reference management program.
The ULB Düsseldorf continues to offer a campus license for EndNote. It also recommends the use of Zotero as free, platform-independent open source software. The ULB offers regular training courses on both reference management programs.
I haven't used a reference management programme yet and would like to start using one:
We recommend going straight into Zotero or EndNote.
I am currently using Citavi, but the deadline for my writing project is before November 2024:
You can still use Citavi until 30.11.2024.
If you use cloud projects, save a local backup copy of the project so that you can still access your reference collection after the licence expires. This can be imported into another literature management programme if required. You can download the programme here and access the campus licence here.
I would like to switch to Zotero or EndNote:
Migration is generally possible. However, some functions from Citavi cannot be implemented 1:1 in other programmes or require manual reworking. In Zotero, this applies in particular to the knowledge elements, which are not automatically categorised as "direct citation", "indirect citation", "summary", etc. EndNote does not map the knowledge elements and structure of Citavi projects. Only the bibliographic metadata can be transferred here.
You can find material on switching to Zotero here:
Video: "Converting Citavi projects to Zotero" (Bamberg University Library)(in German)
Instructions: "How can I import from Citavi?" (Zotero documentation)
I would like to continue using Citavi in the future:
You can find information about purchasing a single user licence at lumivero.com/shop/
Please contact us at literaturverwaltung[at]ulb.hhu.de.