Creating a New Library
Although you can create as many libraries as you like, we strongly recommend that you keep all of your references together in one main EndNote library. Having all of the references you need in one place avoids unnecessary complexity when you are writing papers, creating bibliographies, or moving files between computers. Instead of making different "specialty" libraries, you will find it more useful to create one library and use Groups to help you organize and categorize your references. You can also use the Keywords and Label fields to assign terms to references, and easily assign them to a smart group or find them with EndNote’s Search and Sort References commands.
To create a library:
- From the File menu, select New.
- EndNote presents a dialog prompting you to name and save the new library.
- By default, EndNote will call the new library "My EndNote Library," but you can change the name. Enter a name for your new library. Using a unique name for your library will make it easier to identify if you ever have to work with multiple libraries, or with libraries others have given to you. Do not include an extension, EndNote will add the ".enl" extension for the main library file and the ".Data" extension for the linked Data folder automatically.
- Select the location where you would like to save the library. For simplicity, we suggest that you save your EndNote libraries in your Documents folder.
- Click Save and the new library appears as an empty EndNote library.
Note: Do not save EndNote libraries in any cloud-syncing folders or drives. Cloud-syncing programs can corrupt EndNote libraries over time. The only suggested method for syncing EndNote libraries is through EndNote Web/online.
Now that you have created a new library, you can begin entering references into it. The following topics illustrate the different ways to add references to an EndNote library:
- Creating a New Reference discusses how to enter individual references manually.
- How to Search an Online Database describes how to connect directly to online databases and retrieve references from them.
- Importing Reference Data into EndNote shows you how to import references that you have previously downloaded from online bibliographic databases.
If you have just created the library that will be the main library you use, you can set it to open automatically every time you start EndNote by setting it to be your "favorite library" (see Setting a Favorite Library).