Craig created his own fully customised approach to storing references, using Excel macros …

I use an Excel spreadsheet to manage my reference data.  Each type of reference has its own sheet, and each sheet then has columns for the pertinent data to be entered (Figure 1).  However, because I use LaTeX, I need to be able to export this information into a BibTeX file (basically a text file), so I wrote some macros to do this (Figure 2).  There are macros to create an individual handle (i.e. LaTeX identifier) for each reference, to create handles for all of the references in a sheet, to create handles for all of the references in the worksheet, and to export the data into a properly laid-out text file for use in LaTeX.

Figure 1 - worksheet screenshot

Figure 2 - macro code screenshot

There are some drawbacks to managing the reference data this way.  First of all, I have to enter all of my reference data in manually, which takes time and incurs the possibility of error.  Secondly, it took time to set up the system in the first place.  Thirdly, it is only set up to deal with the LaTeX/BibTex system.

However, I find that I prefer this to the other options out there.  While it doesn’t have a lot of the built-in features of something like Zotero or Mendeley, it is far more transparent and flexible.  Reference management software does almost everything for you, which is convenient, but it can also make it harder to customise it to your preferences or fix problems that do arise.  With this sheet, I know exactly how everything works, so I can make changes or fix problems fairly easily; for example, if I decide that adding a certain feature to my reference information would be useful, I simply have to add a column in the spreadsheet.  Moreover, by using Excel, I have access to all of the functions of Excel for accessing and analysing my reference data, and I can do so on any computer with Microsoft Office (instead of being tied to the internet or to a specific user license).  Finally, having used Excel extensively throughout my education, I really like the interface and the way it displays information, so I’m very comfortable with it, and this gives me more exposure to the power and functionality of Excel.