Hi Giannis,
Until recently I was working on the TELSTAR project (http://www.open.ac.uk/telstar/) at the Open University in the UK, which was (partially) looking at how Reference Management tools could be integrated into an institutional learning environment. The main output of the project was some open source software which enabled the integration of RefWorks reference management software into the Moodle VLE (which can be downloaded from http://code.google.com/p/telstar/). However, as part of the project we also looked at other solutions, including Mendeley and Zotero.
We also organised two events called 'Innovations in Reference Management' which looked at developments across the area of Reference Management, and included people speaking on both Mendeley and Zotero. However, what I was unable to find (at least in the UK) was any examples where a UK university or college was recommending or supporting an Open Source solution as the primary reference management package. While some institutions (including the Open University where the project was based) did provide some basic support information for a range of reference management packages, as far as I could ascertain, the officially supported package (if there was one) was always a commercial product - generally RefWorks or EndNote/EndNote Web.
The two Innovations in Reference Management events were blogged at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/telstar/tag/irm10/ and specifically the session on Zotero is at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/telstar/2010/06/21/irm2-zotero-latest-developments/ and the one on Mendeley at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/telstar/2010/01/14/irm10-from-reference-management-to-real-time-impact-metrics/
Finally you may also be interested in the Reference Management Integration Toolkit (ReMIT) which the project produced, which covers aspects of integrating reference management tools into an institutional learning environment - this is available as a website at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/telstar/remit-toc/ or as a pdf at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/telstar/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/ReMIT1.pdf
Best wishes,
Owen
Owen Stephens
LUCERO Project Manager
Library and Learning Resources Centre
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
T: +44 (0) 1908 858701
F: +44 (0) 1908 653571
E: [log in to unmask]
>
> Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:42:24 +0300
> From: Tsakonas Giannis <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: from ref managers to Mendeley
>
> Dear Brunella hi,
>
> I understand your reservation towards solutions like
> Mendeley. I just said my opinion as an end-user. Also I
> noticed that their feedback is not as efficient and as
> effecting as they should have, as well as their academic
> advisory program is rather slow. To sum up, I get the
> impression that there were not expecting to reach these
> heights so soon, and this shows that, as an enterprize, they
> have a long road to tread.
>
> But as a librarian responsible for bibliographic management
> software, I would like to have a feedback - mainly - by
> English libraries, which seem to be one of the first markets
> they target. Currently, there are no information in their
> site about institution-wide programs and the experience that
> any LIS-LINK member has, would be helpful to us.
>
> Sustainability is of course an issue, but Mendeley, Zotero or
> anything else have the ability to address in person to
> individual members of our communities, something that other
> solutions, like EndNote or RefWorks don't, as they seem to
> work on an institutional base. What I want to say is that
> open solutions like this are already into our communities and
> we need to see if it is of mutual benefit (for us and our
> community) to adopt this kind of options.
>
> With kind regards
>
> Giannis
>
>
>
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