Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!uwvax!oddjob!hao!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!dewey.soe.berkeley.edu!preese
From: preese@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (Phil Reese)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Bibliographic software query - summary of responses
Message-ID: <19831@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Thu, 23-Jul-87 00:33:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.19831
Posted: Thu Jul 23 00:33:59 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 25-Jul-87 03:25:48 EDT
References: <226@rhesus.primate.wisc.edu>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: preese@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu.UUCP (Phil Reese)
Organization: School of Education, UC-Berkeley
Lines: 54

In article <226@rhesus.primate.wisc.edu> dubois@rhesus.primate.wisc.edu (Paul DuBois) writes:
>
>Here are the responses I received to my query about bibliographic
>programs for the Macintosh.
>
While I didn't respond to your original query I feel that I must respond
to your summary posting.  Many of your respondents felt that Professional
Bibliographic System (PBS) is a good way to go.  I have different feelings
and have used the program long enough to confirm my feelings.

First of all this is a IBM PC program ported to the Mac.  This tells you
lots!  It is true that it handles lots of different types of references.
It is also true that it can handle the styles from several different
formats, APA, MLA, etc.  But and this is a big BUT it has EXTREME problems
printing on the LaserWriter!!  You specify the page width in CHARACTERS!
As all good Mac people know this is terrible when using a proportional
spaced font as found in the LaserWriter.

Second, you will not be able to import the files that PBS creates into a
word processing program.  You will be able to import the TEXT but the
point of using a separate reference package is for the damned underline,
bold and italics required by your particular journal.  It does _indicate
what should be underlined_ but lets be real here, it is lots of work to
hunt up all these '_' and change the selection to underline.

Third problem, and this was the frosting on the cake which sent me
screaming back to my dealing to demand my money back (I did get my
money back).  In APA style you are required to have a two line header
on each page.  One line is a brief title and the other is the page
number.  Even in the one mode of PBS that allows you to print, with
formatting, to the LaserWriter you can only have a ONE line header of the
page number, ONLY.  Thus it really doesn't format in the style that I
personally need.

Yes I'm flaming this product.  I waited a long time to get the money to
try out this package.  I wanted this product to solve my problems and the
literature and the press reviews seemed to indicate that it would.  Boy
were they wrong.  If I have unjustly flamed this piece of software please
let me know because I still need something for my thesis.  I've gotten
Stuart Strand's Scholar's Aid which is a big step in the right direction
but it has its limitations and its goals are much more modest the PBS's.
Please try products before you buy them!

Oh did I forget to mention that I was using version 2.6 and that it is
very much copy protected!

Phil Reese
School of Education
EMST
University of California, Berkeley

preese@lapis.berkeley.edu or
preese@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu or
{get to ucbvax}!lapis!preese