Using Mendeley to Manage your

References
Start by going to www.mendeley.com and create a free account

Then download and install Mendeley Desktop

Once you have downloaded and launched Mendeley Desktop, you will be asked to log in

When the desktop opens, it gives you the option to drag local files into the library. We wont do this
just yet

Instead, we will click on Tools and choose to Install Web Importer

The web importer will open in your browser. Note that you have to drag the Save to Mendeley
button to your bookmarks bar

The first step is to make sure your bookmarks bar is visible

Then you can drag the button to the bookmark bar

Now you can either add files directly or through the browser. To add files directly, just use File->
Add Files

You can add any PDFs from your local folders. Mendeley will extract whatever metadata it can find
within the file

You can also add resources directly from the web. Just find a resource you want to add to your library
and click the Save to Mendeley button

Mendeley will try to find metadata on the page. If it cant find it, you can add the information
manually

For example we can copy and paste the title

When you click save you may need to tell Mendeley that you have installed Mendeley Desktop

The file will be saved to Mendeley

If you switch to Mendeley desktop, you should see the article has been added. You can manually add
any missing information (date, abstract etc.)

You can add web pages. Sometimes these have a lot of metadata, like this example from Wikipedia.
All the embedded references are automatically added to the list of resoures found by Mendeley

You can select any that you want to add to your library

Any selected references will be added to your library

You can also add material from the Unitec library databases. You may find it useful to add Unitec as a
library link on Google Scholar

Google Scholar should find the Unitec library for you

You can find articles on the library database, and also add these to Mendeley

Articles from the database will have metatada

Here are all of the articles added to Mendeley

You can also use Mendeley to generate citations and bibliographies in Word: Tools -> Install MS
Word Plugin

The plugin pop up explains that you will get Mendeley added to your References tab in Word

Clicking on Insert Citation in the References tab leads to this popup, where you can get a reference
from Mendeley.

If you find a citation through the search text, it will be added when you press OK. If you
Go To Mendeley find the reference you want, then click on the Cite button to add the
citation.

Here are all my citations added at once:

(Benseman, 2013; Harris, Jones, & Baba, 2013; Parsons, 2014; Spillane, Diamond, &
Halverson, 2001)
If you add a bibliography, it will appear in the format specified in the Mendeley plugin, e.g.
APA: (you can change the style in the plugin using the drop down list.)
Benseman, J. (2013). Research-Informed Teaching of Adults: A Worthy Alternative to Old
Habits and Hearsay? Retrieved from http://www.unitec.ac.nz/epress/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/RBT-Article-Final.pdf
Harris, A., Jones, M., & Baba, S. (2013). Distributed leadership and digital collaborative
learning: A synergistic relationship? British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(6),
926939. http://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12107
Parsons, D. (2014). The future of mobile learning and implications for education. Increasing
Access through Mobile Learning, 217229.
Spillane, J. P., Diamond, J., & Halverson, R. (2001). Investigating School Leadership
Practice: A Distributed Perspective. Educational Researcher, (April), 23 28.

There is plenty more to learn about Mendeley, but these steps should be enough to get you
started.
The Mind Lab 2015