NOTA BENE TIPS and SHORTCUTS
Mark D. Szuchman, Department of History, FIU, Miami, FL 33199
July 25, 2009
Ibidem
TIPS ON: Adding titles to the bibliography of a research document (assuming the document is created based on a style manual)?
Outline of steps:
- create an Ibidem subset that replicates the Works Cited list (which NB automatically generates and is associated with your document's citations)
- name the subset
- select the full database, search for additional Ibidem records, clicking in the box of each of the additional Ibidem records you deem appropriate
- append these additional titles to the newly named subset
- use the subset to generate a bibliography
- select all the contents of the bibliography, copy and paste into the research document and save it
Detailed process (NOTE: these procedures should be taken once you're certain that you're finished preparing your research document):
- if the bibliography has been automatically generated at the end of the document, click anywhere on the blue word "Bibliography," press Delete, and confirm the action by clicking OK. The entire bibliography section will be deleted (not the citations).
- in Ibidem, select the Works Cited subset (located to the right of the Save Subset item), click on Save Subset, type a name for this new subset, click Close
- back in the Ibidem main window, select all additional titles you want to appear in the document's Bibliography section, for each additional item, click on the box to the left of Record Number, a check mark will appear
- once all additional titles are selected, click on Save Subset, click on the name of the subset recently created, (make sure that the item "Marked Records" is checked and that the number of checked records conforms to the number of additional items you selected), click on Append. Once the confirmation of the action taken appears, click on Close
- back in Ibidem, select the subset you created, click on the menu item Generate, Bibliography, select the appropriate Style (normally, in History, it's the Chicago Manual of Style (Bibliographic)). Make sure that the Order is checked for Alphabetical and the Options are set for Standard Format. Click OK, then click on View Results
- when the resulting bibliography appears in its own window, select it all (Edit, Select, Entire Document or Ctl-A), copy and paste into the research document at the proper location in the research document. You now have all the works cited in the document, plus the added works, all formated and laid out in the research document's academic style manual. Save the document.
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TIPS ON: CITING
July 25, 2009
IBIDEM
- Citing Pages (A): When citing page ranges, enter the numbers fully — don’t abbreviate pagination as in “314-15”. Keep reminding yourself that Nota Bene will make sure that the academic style you selected will format the citation automatically according to its rules, not yours.
- Citing Pages (B): NB will dump the text of the page citation exactly as you enter it in the Pages Cited entry box in the Insert/Edit Citation dialog. This means that if your enter the term “passim,” that’s what will appear in the citation.
- Differences between Footnotes/Endnotes and Citations/References: Too many writers mistakenly think that footnotes and citations (or references) are synonymous. The differences may appear frivolous to the casual observer, but the more knowledgeable individuals, understand that they are not, and in the case of NB users, there are significant implications for how the program behaves in each case. NOTE: The term “footnote” will hereafter be used but includes the case of “endnote” and, similarly, the term “citation” or “cite” will be used and include the same idea as “reference.”
- A footnote refers to the location in which material is placed. The term “footnote” contains no implications for the type of content it holds, only for the space and location in which the contents are placed, normally, either at the foot of a page or, in the case of endnotes, toward the end of the work, as part of the “Back Matter,” in editorial language. A footnote may contain only regular text, one or more bibliographic citations, or both. Some styles discourage the use of “discursive notes,” that is, notes that contain too much regular, discursive text. A footnote has layout characteristics consistent with the academic manual style selected.
- A citation contains a reference to a bibliographic item, normally an Ibidem record, part of the user’s Ibidem database. Either one or several citations may go into a footnote. The format of a citation is governed by the particular academic manual style the document uses. Citations are also connected with the bibliography (or “Works Cited” or whatever title for the heading of the bibliographic section is required by the style), which is also governed by the selected academic style manual.
- Discursive Text and Multiple Citations in the Same Footnote: If you want to type regular text into a footnote, prior to citing a bibliographic item, create a footnote first (Insert, Note (Series 1), and enter your text. Once finished, and with the footnote window open, right click, Insert Citation, Cite. Once finished citting, do not enter any punctuation: if this is your only citation, NB will dynamically update all your citations and enter the punctuations appropriate in each case, according to the rules of the academic style manual chosen. However, if you wish to type regular text after the citations, type a period at the citation’s end and type your text. If you enter several citations in a row, without interrupting with your own tex, do not enter any punctuation between cites; if you do not add your text after the last citation, do not enter a period — NB will take care of things. If you return to a footnote containing a previously entered citation which has a period at the end, and you then decide to add another citation, NB will change the punctuation as needed.
- Entering Multiple Citations: After entering each citation, right-click, then click on Add Citation; alternatively, you can just go to Ibidem, selecte another work and Cite. Remember: many of your citations will look they way they do only temporarily, their final look will appear after clicking on Update Dynamic Citations. This process will check the academic style’s rules on several issues, such as punctuation betweeen multiple cites, formatting subsequent instances of the same citations, etc.
- What’s with the Blue Text?: Text that appears in blue, instead of the normal black, indicates materials that were entered by you via a dialog of some sort rather than directly into the document. Such is the case with citations entered via Ibidem. Because the material was entered via a dialog, it can be edited only via the same dialog, and not directly on the document. Thus, you will not be able to enter your own comments between two (blue) citations in a footnote (you could delete the citations that come after your own text, and once finished typing your text, cite them again).
- Be Careful not to Delete Citation/Footnote inadvertently: Pressing Shift-Del will delete the sentence, starting at the point in which the cursor is located. But be careful: the deletion will include the period at the end of the sentence plus any character immediately to its right, including the citation/footnote. Therefore, don't use Shift-Del in such cases, and instead, delete word by word until reaching the end of the sentence with Ctl-Del.