Citation management software

From WolfWikis

Software that enables users to store, manage, and output (in a variety of styles) bibliographic references from various sources, including online article databases. It can help you effectively organize and manage citations while conducting research, incorporate references into word processing documents, and create independent bibliographies in a variety of styles. Highly recommended for long-term research projects.

Examples include:

• RefWorks (NCSU Libraries RefWorks guide)
• EndNote (NCSU Libraries EndNote guide)
• ProCite (not currently supported by the Libraries)

Adopting any of these requires a little time to learn the software and get into the habit of using saving references there. But in the long run, a tremendous amount of time and effort can be saved tracking down papers and creating bibliographies if the software is used correctly.