The "Citation ABCs" will help you understand how Citation can fit into your research and writing methods. Here's the drill: follow this simple system as you work and let Citation streamline what you already do when you are writing a paper or preparing a lecture: keeping track of source works, and organizing research notes. Here's what you do:

Whenever you read a potential source work , enter a bibliographic record for the work. Entering bibliographic information (authors, titles, etc.) with Citation is easy. The program provides you with notecard-like forms, specifically made for different types of source works, to make sure you enter all the information you will need on the article, book, essay, case, or other authority for a proper reference. Include a few keywords to help you retrieve all the works on subjects of interest for your work, and an abstract that summarizes the significance of the source for your research.

When you encounter a passage or excerpt that either capsulizes the source work's position on an issue, summarizes a contribution to a research area, or illustrates a critical concept you want to address in your paper -- enter a note record. Link the note to the bibliographic record with the Access Phrase from the bibliographic record (see the example above), and the page/paragraph where the passage can be relocated. Include a few keywords that indicate the relationship of the excerpt to your research interests. You can enter your comments on the excerpt along with the excerpt itself (note).

Now, when you are ready to write, you'll find that you can easily review your notes on any of the issues you need to address, and cite any of the works you've read, in just about any style required (Citation supports 1000+ styles for references), with a click. It couldn't be easier.

Not a complicated system. Just an effective one: as you are reading and writing, Citation sits quietly on your word processor's Tools menu, helping you keep track of source works, and take organized, thorough research notes. During the writing process, Citation helps you locate the excerpts you need and writes your references with a click. You will quickly find that using Citation in this way will free up valuable time for the real challenges of writing first rate papers. No more sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by stacks of (scribbled) notecards, wondering which ones are missing - or searching the library web site for a publisher name you forgot to jot down. You'll be able to group all of your notes on an issue instantly, and write your bibliographies with a click. In fact, once you start using Citation, you'll probably wonder how (and why!) you ever got along without it.