On Nov 24, 2007, at 7:34 PM, Steven Edwards wrote: > BibDesk seems like it's a great tool. I'm doing work on my thesis and > would like to use it to help me write a bibliography. Problem is > though... I don't see any easy step by step directions on how to do > that on either the BibDesk website or anywhere else for that matter.
BibDesk's usefulness will depend on what tools you're using to write your thesis. If you're using LaTeX/BibTeX, you need BibDesk. If you're using Pages, take a look at http://jhh.med.virginia.edu/main/CiteInPages If you're using Word (or another word processor), BibDesk will be less helpful, and you may want to compare with other programs. > Many people who download bibdesk are probably going to have SOME idea > of what it does before they download... but I discovered it through a > google search, and downloaded it with the expectation that it would > easily allow me to create bibliographies (e.g. I'd be able to do > something like go to the file menu and hit export and then choose > from a list of formats, like MLA or APA). It doesn't seem to work > that way though, and the website gives no impression that it won't > (well, at least that's the way I interpreted it) BibDesk originally did little more than manage a collection of references in a flat file, allowing you to add/edit/search the list easily. All formatting was done outside of BibDesk using LaTeX/BibTeX to generate a reference list in a particular style. Along the way, various other capabilities have been added, but documentation and propaganda pages tend to lag behind development. > I've seen written in plenty of places that I can export in text > format and even as a pdf... but I don't really understand how that's > going to help me much when I would need to export in a certain > bibliographical format. Sounds like a program like MacTex could help > me... but I highly doubt it's necessary for me to download a ~742 > megabyte file simply to export bibdesk data to an APA bibliography. Take a look at http://bibdesk.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Export_Templates and the online help for templates. The latest version has a graphical template editor included, which you can use to create your own export format. This is the route you'll need to take if you're using using a word processor. You only need to install MacTeX if you're planning to write with LaTeX and BibTeX; this is what most of us use. For a quick intro, see http://noodle.med.yale.edu/latex/essential.pdf hth, adam ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2005. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ Bibdesk-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bibdesk-users
