----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Colleagues-
many thanks for your replies.  Several people asked me to summarize for the
list, so:

From: J Lindsey Hagood <<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9807%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7BIT%26P%3D129106%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>>
John Hagood,  MIT Libraries
The producers of both Pro-Cite and EndNote have one-month demonstration
packages available from their sites on the Web. ( www.niles.com  and
www.risinc.com/pc/pcmain.html ) They purport to let one sort and manipulate
the sample cites they've preloaded.  EndNote seems bigger on marketing its
interface with the Web (as if that's the premier place for finding
legitimate information) and library catalogs across the country.  Also, the
question of who is or will be Z39.50 compliant must make a big difference
in how well these work.  I can't say that in looking at the presentation of
data in either package is particularly inspiring, but at least the
citations and notes are saved and malleable.  If it makes any difference, I
get the impression that EndNote is what people think of first nowadays
(maybe that's just in the sciences,  however), whereas earlier in the
decade, ProCite ruled.  I've  not spotted any trustworthy evaluations in
PC-industry magazines,  but again, have only begun.  A few Less
self-interested evaluations are on the web, and listserves are supposed to
exist for users of both products.

From: Rachel Frew <<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9807%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7BIT%26P%3D129106%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>>
 one of our medievalists swears by software called papyrus.  their  website
is www.rsd.com.

From: "Mitchell, James" <<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9807%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7BIT%26P%3D129106%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>>
James Mitchell, Assistant Reference Librarian  Frick Art Reference Library:

I've been struggling with ProCite (version 3.4) for a couple months now,
and find it a little frustrating. I've been using it to download records
from our opac, an Innovative Interfaces system, which has a "ProCite
format" export option (with comma-delimited fields). I had to try a few
different telnet programs before I found one, Hyperterminal, that handled
the diacritics properly. Now that it works, it's still rather cumbersome.
After exporting the records, one must save the export file, then import
that into ProCite, then use the Bibliography feature to output, which
generally requires defining an "output style" first, in order to get the
desired fields in the desired order; I usually output to a Word file to do
additional formatting/page layout.

Eureka also provides a "ProCite format" export option, but I haven't
gotten it to work. We also have FirstSearch here, which doesn't provide
a similar option. There is also a companion program called BiblioLink,
which apparently is used with dbases that don't provide comma-delimited
exporting. I haven't tried it yet. I also haven't tried to use ProCite
for managing bibliographies and footnotes within a document. Overall,
I'd say that it's a pretty powerful program, with lots of features and
options, but it requires much effort to configure adequately. (In
particular, I have had to change the setup in our opac that defines what
MARC fields are exported; I'm guessing your faculty member wouldn't be
able to do that.) I would probably find it more useful for maintaining
longer bibs, even if needing to manually enter records.


From: lynn wojcik <<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9807%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7BIT%26P%3D129106%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>>

I haven't used Pro-Cite in several years, but it was an excellent
bibliographic product when I used it.  I started out using the DOS version,
which was kind of clunky, but the Windows version was a much improved
product.  The fields are automatically formated and numerous, you can fill
in as little or as much data as needed, and diacritics are supported.
Pro-Cite sells a companion product, Biblio-Link to gather data from other
database sources, which sounds like what your faculty member needs.  A
great feature, is the fact that you can output the data in any style format
needed, Chicago, MLA, etc.

One caveat, Pro-Cite is a bibliographic tool only.  I attempted to also
format it for other database uses by constructing my own fields and
punctuation files for output.  It can be done, but is a very labor
intensive process.  For non-bibliographic data, another software product
that allows more flexibility would be a better bet.


From: Kimberly Collins <<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9807%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7BIT%26P%3D129106%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>>
I am by no means a computer expert, but this spring I investigated both
the EndNote software and ProCite software for my small museum library.
I was initially impressed with EndNotes because:

1) It was almost $100 cheaper
2) The new version promised to have many more filters (import
configurations) than ProCite did.

I bought EndNotes and easily installed the software from a handy CD-ROM.
The screen was VERY basic and did not seem to have as many on-screen
features as the ProCite interface.  The manual stated that one should
create only one EndNote database and then form separate groups for
different subject bibliographies from that one database.  In this way,
duplicates can be identified as soon as they are imported.  I believe
that importing records from the internet is easier with EndNotes rather
than ProCite.

HOWEVER, I wanted to export records directly from OCLC as I cataloged
them and then import them into the software.  The EndNotes sales people
promised me that would be no problem--if their OCLC filter didn't work,
they would create a special filter for me.  But it turns out, they could
not create a filter for data files.  Only ProCite can do this, and then
only if you specially request a free DOS bibliolink disk.

I returned EndNotes and bought ProCite, and for what I use it
for(creating new book lists) it has done well.  With ProCite, you create
and maintain several databases at a time (although there is a GROUP
feature that can be used).  I like being able to easily click on an
author, title, or keyword list of records within a database  Marking,
copying, and creating records is easy.    I have also had no problem
with creating, printing, or exporting bibliographies.

When importing records from the DOS version; however, I have had to
import them into a holding database and then copy them into the
destination database (a REPLACE? prompt comes up when I try to import
directly into a database from the DOS program).  At first, I had a
difficult time importing records from the internet because I had the
wrong browser (I think you must have Netscape).  It is easy to import a
web page as a records, but I have had trouble importing the information
about a book or journal from the web into ProCite (I think they do not
have that many filters).  RLIN's Eureka has a ProCite filter (created by
RLIN not ProCite), but I have had trouble making it work.

I guess my advice would be to find out what your Professor will be
importing and talk to the tech (not sales) people at both EndNotes and
ProCite.  I hope my ramblings have been helpful.  Please call me
(404)733-4528 or e-mail me with any questions.


From: "Virginia Funkhouser" <<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9807%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7BIT%26P%3D129106%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>>
Virginia Funkhouser
Getty Conservation Institute

  I am currently working on about nine separate bibliographies used to
support the various projects here at the Getty Conservation Institute.   We
are using the Mac version of Pro-cite right now, however, shortly
we will be transferring everything over to the latest PC version of Pro-cite.
My experience thus far has been favorable, the Mac Pro-cite software allows
for manipulating and searching bibliographies in many useful ways.
Most large online catalogs have a Pro-cite component to their export
facilities - I have not had much problem with importing data from these
types of sources.
Unfortunately, my experience importing diacritic is bad - they just don't
import with the Mac version of Pro-cite.  You might want to check out the
new PC version and see if it is any better.  I usually have to go back into
the individual records to correct the diacritic.


Trudy Jacoby
Trinity College
Hallden Hall, Visual Resources Collection
Hartford,  CT 06106-3100

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