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