Linking References To Other Information

References stored in RefWorks can be linked to other resources such as a file stored locally on your computer, to a web site or web page or through an Open URL resolver to more information provided by your Organization's library.  These links allow you to have access to even more information that what you have stored in your RefWorks account.

Linking to a file or a web site or webpage is something that you add within the body of the reference.  Open URL linking (if provided by your Organization) is automatically displayed within your RefWorks account.

Open URL Links

If your RefWorks administrator has added an Open URL link to the RefWorks program, there will be an icon or name of the Open URL resolver displayed below the reference information (Author, Title, Source, Folder) when viewing references in the Standard or Full view).  If you are viewing references in the One Line/Cite View or a custom view, you will see a Link Resolver icon OpenURL.jpg which you can mouse over to find the organization-specific Open URL link or icon.  (Note:  This is not available to Individual Subscribers)  Click on the displayed name of your link resolver service to launch the Open URL search.

Linking to a Web Site

To link to a URL simply type the information into the Links or DOI (Digital Object Identifier) fields. Multiple entries in the these fields need to be separated by a semi-colon.  Click on the URL from the View magglass.jpg option to launch the link.

Linking to a File on Your Computer

To link to a file located on your local computer, precede the file name with file:, e.g., file:// C:\ reflinks\sample.txt. The file name and the path name cannot contain spaces. To work around this you must enter a %20 to replace the space. For example, to link to your My Documents folder you would enter file:// C:\My%20Documents\sample.txt. You may want to set up a specific folder on your computer for items you want to link to from RefWorks.

Users can also use a universal naming convention to make network shared files available to all users. For example, file:// c:\ windows\win.exe under UNC might carry the identifier file://\\ machinename\sharename\windows\win.exe.

Note:  Some firewall or security software or security settings in your browser may block links to documents stored on your hard-drive.  If you find you are having trouble linking, check your security settings.   Windows users with XP Service Pack 2 installed will have difficulty linking to .pdf files.

Attaching a File to a Reference

If you have this feature available to you, you will be able to upload files and attach them to your references.  Click here for more information on attaching files.