Using BibDesk and iWork Pages

Step 1: First you need to unzip the CiteInPages (I am using version 1.04) and follow the instructions in the resulting folder 'CiteInPages104' called 'CiteInPages ReadMe v104.txt'.  Install hint: use key combination shift+command+g to jump to the folder where the files need to be installed.

Step 2: Create a BibDesk database and add some entries. It is quite self-explanatory. Don't forget to setup the citation dragging capability. Just follow the instruction in the 'CiteInPages ReadMe v104.txt' starting at the line: "If you wish to be able to drag formatted in text citations from BibDesk and drop them into Pages documents, you will need to set up a the citation template in BibDesk. This
capability is optional but convenient to have."

Step 3: Open Pages and save a new document (for example, test.pages).

Step 4: Have your Pages window and BibDesk window aligned on the desktop so that you can see both programs. Simply drag your citations over from BibDesk to the Pages document as seen in the picture below. When you release the mouse button, what is called a "cite-key" will be entered into your document. These will be replaced later by a script.

Step 5: When you are ready to process your document, you can open the folder 'CiteInPages104' where the scripts are located. I work in linguistics, therefore I mostly use the author-date formatted citations. Select the script 'CiteInPages author-date.scpt' and run it. Applescript will open. Simply run the script, ensuring that the last pages window touched was the one with the citations. Assuming your original file was called 'test.pages', the result will be a new pages document called 'test-bib.pages'.

Why is this great and better than using TeXShop? That is naturally debatable, but I find that having the bibliography in a word processor allows for flexible editing of the bibliographies' appearance. It also relies on Applescript, which is robust and customizable.