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RefWorks : Online Learning

Backing-up and restoring your account

RefWorks makes sure that your data is backed up and safe as part of their normal practice.
It can, however, be useful to make copies of your data from time-to-time.

  • In the Tools pull-down menu there is a Backup/Restore section. The default is Backup and you can decide whether to include References, RSS feeds and any attachments.
    screen shot: backup and restore
  • Click on the Perform Backup button (bottom right of the page).
  • You will be prompted to save a file (.rwb). You won't be able to open this file as it's only readable by RefWorks. If you want a backup of your references that you can view, use the Export option (from the References pull-down menu) and select RefWorks Tagged Format. The difference is that Backup/Restore allows you to copy references, RefID numbers, folders (as long as they have references in them), RSS feeds and attachments - i.e. an almost identical copy of your RefWorks database.
    Export simply extracts your references in a tagged format. This export can be re-imported into RefWorks but Ref IDs, folders, output styles and RSS feeds are not included.
  • To restore the latest Backup select the Restore option (Click on the arrowhead to open/close a section).
    Screenshot: Restore
  • Browse to find the Backup file.
  • Make the selection to include References, RSS feeds, attachments and output styles.
  • Click on the Perform Restore button (bottom right).

Note: Using the Restore option will overwrite everything already in your RefWorks account.

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