There are several ways to cite sources and references in Microsoft Word 2007. You can create a bibliography, footnotes, or endnotes. In this and next month’s column, we will focus on the last two methods: footnotes and endnotes, which are very similar.

The main distinction between footnotes and endnotes is implied in their names: Footnotes appear at the bottom (or foot) of each page, whereas endnotes appear at the end of a section or of a document. We will use the term “notes” in this column to refer to both footnotes and endnotes except when there is a distinction between the two. A single document can contain both footnotes and endnotes.

Notes have three basic elements. The first is a reference mark, which is a number or symbol in superscript (that is, slightly above the regular text’s baseline) next to the text being noted. The other elements concern how the note appears at the bottom of the page (for footnotes) or at the end of the section or document (for endnotes). The separator line separates the note section from the body text. The reference mark appears again below this line next to the corresponding text. The final element is the footnote text or endnote text itself. Although they may appear to be part of a single unit, the reference mark and footnote/endnote text are distinct from one another.

Placing Notes

The footnote will appear differently in the document depending on the view you are using. In Print Layout view, the footnote reference mark that accompanies the text will appear at the bottom of the page. In Draft view, the mark will appear in a separate area at the bottom of the Word window. If the Footnote area doesn’t show, go to the References tab and click Show Notes. Whichever method you use, you then simply enter the text you want to use for your footnote.

Placing an endnote is a similar process. Place the cursor within the document where you want to add the note and press CTRL-ALT-D or click Insert Endnote on the References tab. In Print view, Word will insert the reference point and jump to the end of the document where the note can be placed. In Draft view, endnotes appear in an area at the bottom of the window, just like the Footnotes area (except that the area is called Endnotes).

Work With Notes

There are several tools within Word that you can use to modify your placed notes. Deleting a note requires you to delete that note’s reference mark in the main body of the document; deleting the footnote text does not delete the footnote altogether. To delete a reference mark, simply select it and press DELETE. This deletes the mark and all other elements of the note, including the note text.

You can change placed notes from one kind to another easily. If you want to change the type of a single note, right-click the note’s text and choose Convert To Endnote or Convert To Footnote. To change all the notes in a document from one type to another, open the Footnote And Endnote dialog box. Open the box either by right-clicking a note’s text and clicking Note Options or by clicking the small arrow in the Footnotes group on the Ribbon.

Click the Convert button in the dialog box. Another box will open with options depending on whether you have just footnotes, just endnotes, or both in the current document. You can change footnotes to endnotes or vice versa. You can also “swap” the positions of all endnotes and footnotes.

Next month, we will continue our look at footnotes and endnotes, including how to change formatting and navigate among them.