Item type "User Manual" and "Product Brochure"

Gurdas_Sandhu
Many of my documents need to cite 'Product Brochures' and 'User Manuals'. None of the existing item types seem to fit well, though I've tried 'Document' and 'Report'.

It will be useful to have two new item types (or just one with merged capabilities) that has fields such as: Institution, Make, Model, Version Number, Version Date, Document Date, Pages.

For now, is there an option better than Document or Report?
  • adamsmith
    I'd prefer report over document for various reasons, and no, there's nothing better atm.
    How would those be cited (by a relevant style guide or journal)? We try to avoid the proliferation of item types as much as possible, so if it is at all possible to fold this into something else that'd be much preferable.
  • Gurdas_Sandhu
    Adam, I too prefer Report over Document, having tried both initially. If 'Report' had fields or a field for Product and Version information, it works for most instances. Presently, I am adding product and version information to the Title in a 'Report'. Maybe I can add Version information as 'Report Number' and write User Manual for 'Report Type'? Can I do an advanced search for Report Type?

    Here's an example:
    OEM-2100AX Axion User’s Manual. Clean Air Technologies International, Inc., Buffalo, New York, USA. Version 2.0, 2008.
  • adamsmith
    Where is that example from?
    Would certainly be doable with report type & number, though I don't think any existing citation style would get particularly close to that.
    Can I do an advanced search for Report Type?
    yes - in the advanced search menu it's "Type" (which will also include a few other fields like thesis type & presentation type. If you need it restricted to just report type combine it with "Item Type -- is -- Report".
  • Gurdas_Sandhu
    Adam, thanks. I think working within Report type should be okay for now. I tried exporting bibliography for the styles I use and having the version number in the Title still seems best. For some styles (such as Environ. Sc. & Tech) having Report Type and Report Number is as good, but not other styles. So, for now, I will just stick with the system I have. I am just starting to include User Manuals in my Zotero library and it may be that in future I'll have more specific feedback concerning help/edits needed.

    Thanks for the advanced search answer.
  • jpaarlberg
    I wish to add my voice to the request for a new type that would fit a user's manual. I am a laboratory technician and I have found it frustrating that there seems to be no official APA format for citing a laboratory manual, which is quite similar to a user's manual in many respects and which, ironically, also needs to reference the user's manuals. I did find this information on Purdue OWL which is a wonderful resource for getting information about citing in APA format.

    "How do I cite a products instructional guide (e.g., the Apple iPad user’s manual) in APA?

    While the APA publication manual lists many different references, product instructions are not something that has a specific reference example. Since there is not a specific reference guideline for instructions, I would adapt another similar reference for your uses. For example:

    Title of the Instructions (Year). Name of the product. Company Name, City, State. Current Location of the Product."

    From:
    OWL Mail APA FAQ’s. (2014, May 16). Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved May 16, 2014, from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/25/

    However, notice that they do not include a version number! I typically use "Book" as my format for user's manuals because there is an option for "Edition" which is somewhat similar to a version number. However, a version number is not the same as an edition because they can change very frequently; also, the APA format for a Book is quite different than for a document or report. Maybe adding a "version" field to the report category to include a version number rather than merely a "report number" might do the trick; I believe a "report number" is more like a volume number or catalog number, no?
  • adamsmith
    I'd just use report for this - report number is a purposefully flexible field. I'm not convinced that we'd want to get as specific as to add a product manual category: While I understand that there are fields where they are cited with some regularity, there are rarely strict rules as to how (see you APA example), so just do something that's reasonable and includes all relevant information.
Sign In or Register to comment.