Thursday, May 1, 2008

Can I create an Excel Table from my RefWorks data?

Yes. Just follow the steps shown below.

Begin by saving your RefWorks data into a tab delimited file
1. Log-in to your Refworks account
2. Use the "References" menu to select export
3. Select the references you wish to export -- either "all references," "My List," or a specific folder of references
4. Select the "Tab Delimited" export format
5. Click "Export to Text File"
6. A new browser window or new browser tab will appear that contains the tab delimited file.
7. In Excel 2007 for Windows, use the "Page" icon to select "Save As." In earlier version of Excel, use the browser's "File" menu to choose "Save as." Choose a name for the file and a location for the file that you'll remember. Save the file as a .txt file (this should be the default option).

To import the data into an excel worksheet (This is one method. There may be a better way.): 1. Open Microsoft Excel
2. Click on the "Data" menu. In Excel 2007 for Windows, select "From Text." In earlier version of Excel, select "Import External Data" and "Import Data"
3. Use the "Import Text File" dialog box (in Excel 2007) or "Select Data Source" menu that appears to locate, select and open the plain-text, tab-delimited file containing your RefWorks data.
4. A "Text Import Wizard" will appear.
5. Leave the "Delimited" default selection as is and click the "Next" button.
6. Leave the "Tab" deafult selection as is and click the "next" button. Click the "Next" button.
7. Click the "Finish" button.
8. In the "Import data" box that appears, select the worksheet where you want to put the data.

You can also transfer data from an Excel Spreadsheet into RefWorks. Althought that process is considerably more complex : - ).

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