Mendeley is composed of two key components: (1) a cross-platform desktop client and (2) a web application. What does this mean for you? Basically, you can take your research with you wherever you go. You can have Mendeley Desktop installed on multiple computers, running different operating systems, and always have access to the same documents (remember, MD is a free download). You can also access your library from the web, on a computer without a Mendeley Desktop installation (eg, a public library terminal).
Mendeley Desktop is available for all modern flavors of Mac, Windows and Linux. It is also available for iOS.
Since Mendeley synchronizes your library to Mendeley Web, this means that any computer you have access to the internet through, you should be able to access your library.
There are multiple things that get synchronized between Mendeley Desktop and Mendeley Web. Your library (references and/or files), annotations, groups, and more.
Here are a few examples of how you can see Mendeley's synchronizing powers:
- Install Mendeley on multiple systems. Log in with your credentials on each computer (Win/Mac/Linux) and you will have the same library available on each computer. iOS mobile devices included!
- Add a new document (or even a folder of PDFs) to your library. Press 'Synch' button. Go to Mendeley Web, check your library for the newly added files. Available for you wherever you go (with Internet access!).
- Create a private group to collaborate with a colleague. Share a PDF in that group and have your colleague annotate it. Synch and see your colleagues annotations. Notice the coloured highlighting.
