Good Day,
I currently use Scrivener 2.8.1 and Endnote 7.7.1. I have 2 computers, work and home. I have my Scrivener project in Dropbox so I can access from either location. I have my Endnote library synced with their online service so that I can access the library in either location. Unfortunately the Endnote library sync does NOT preserve citation record numbers between locations and Scrivener appears to rely on that specific field (record number) to match the citation during the compile process. As a result citations that I add at work are broken if I do the compile at home and vice versa. It looks like the program Word has a mechanism for updating citations to the current library that would overcome this issue but I would prefer to continue using Scrivener. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Mike
Could you put your Endnote library into Dropbox too?
Geoff,
Thanks for the suggestion.
I am considering doing just that but the official position from the makers of Endnote is that they do not support using Dropbox or any other cloud syncing services. Apparently this is due to the high potential for library corruption. The only solution that seems feasible is to store a compressed copy of the Endnote library in Dropbox and restore from backup before each time I use it. Apparently the compressed files are not subject to the data corruption that can occur with the native Endnote library files.
Mike
Hi Mike
Ah, that’s good to know, I haven’t noticed any problems with my library in DB so far, but better safe than sorry. The compressed library solution sounds like the way to go.
I was curious about the capability you mentioned previously, that Word could make sense, as it were, of citations with different record numbers across the two libraries. Do you have a link to any discussion of that?
Cheers
Geoff
Geoff,
Here is a copy of the response I got from the Clarivate Analytics Customer Care:
.
It is my understanding that this works for both Word and Pages applications. I am still waiting to hear back from the Scrivener support team.
As an aside, another solution that I have come across is to use Dropbox and pause the syncing while the Endnote library is open, then restart syncing when the library is closed. Apparently it is the interaction with the files in the library and potential simultaneous Dropbox syncing of those files that creates the potential for corruption. I just know that I would only remember to do this for the first week and then forget and corrupt my library. 
Hope this helps you. I will let you know when/if I learn more.
Mike
Endnote sync: defective by design!!! 
Thanks Mike,
It seems like you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t!
If you set up dropbox not to launch at login, that might help to reduce the chance of having it open while working with EN.
Cheers
Geoff
Hi, I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to ask if anyone has found some help or solutions. I am having a bad problem with things here, for EndNote, not Scrivener. I am working on 2 computers as well, and syncing EndNote with their online library service. I am running into a problem when EndNote updates the references when I switch computers and reopen Word.
Here’s the deal: in my library I have 2 papers with the same principal author in the same year. I.e. West & Brown (2000) and West & Smith (2000). In my current work, I am citing only West & Brown (2000). But, when I switch computers, reopen Word, and update references, all of them are swapped out with West & Smith (2000).
I have been comparing record numbers, and apparently they are assigned somewhat randomly (not the same across libraries). However, what I’ve found by looking at the record numbers is that there is a purely coincidental crossover here for my references that is causing a bit issue:
The record numbers are as follows:
-
On the desktop computer:
West & Brown (2000) - #181
West & Smith (2000) - #180 -
On my laptop computer:
West & Brown (2000) - #182
West & Smith (2000) - #181
And, EndNote codes appear as follows: {[Author], [Year] [RecordNum]}, so it appears that everytime I switch computers, because of the referencing scheme EndNote uses, any reference that is marked {West, 2000 #181} will swap to the other reference because of this coincidental (very unlucky) overlap with numbers.
If this is the source of the problem, then EndNote has a severely flawed system for citations and this might be a dealbreaker. Does anyone know if this is actually how it works?
This is a fundamental flaw in Endnote’s design. Records should have unique IDs (a fundamental of database design), irrespective of the author names or years etc. The fact that Endnote deliberately renumbers its record IDs on sync and considers this acceptable is unacceptable!
But I am confused about Word, as it normally bundles cited references as a travelling library (the data is stored in the Word document). So it appears it is deliberately remaking the travelling library based on the defectively renumbered synced numbers?
I have Endnote free from my University, but because of this and a thousand other reasons, gladly pay to use Bookends, which is far more powerful (apart from CWYW, which you may consider a feature or a curse), with a developer who is active and responsive to user requests. It major flaw is it isn’t cross-platform…
Consider this another vote against Endnote (and another vote for Bookends). This problem with ID numbers caused me various problems and some amount of work over a decade ago. It is extraordinary that they haven’t done anything about it. Probably laziness because they are “embedded” in a lot of universities, and don’t have to work for money. There are so many other solutions that are better.
The way the CWYW update is working is by search and match – it is odd that EN does not see that there is more than one match thiugh, as it would in the normal course of doing this kind of procedure put up a choose dialog.
If Dropbox does right by Scrivener packages, I bet it does a good job with Endnote databases too. But I would sure want a solid and archival backup strategy before exposing my database to any cloud service.
Putting the EN database on a flash also a possibility, I suppose, but same backup caveats apply.
Greetings. I have used the same Endnote library for decades. It gets updated by Endnote to be compatible with Endnote application updates… It now has 6000 curated references and a large fraction of these carry linked pdf files.
I keep the folders and files for Endnote on Dropbox in a master folder since I work on two computers. I ignored the warnings from the supplier about Dropbox because I need stable citations and the supplier could not offer them. (I never use traveling libraries, either).
I make compressed (.enlx) library backups regularly. Only once in many years have I had a library damaged and it was not clear whether that was a Dropbox problem.
The largest issue I have is that if I forget to close the library after modifying it on one computer, then after opening and modifying on the second computer, named conflicted versions of the library will be created by Dropbox.