Here is a description and some ideas how to manage
your own bibtex database.

= Useful Tools =

latexmk
Not directly related to bibtex, but when you use
bibtex or makeindex it is necessary to execute
latex multiple times, latexmk does that for you.
I prefer writing a Makefile.
	latex $DOC.ltx # compile to extract ref
	bibtex $DOC # resolve ref
	latex $DOC # insert glossary
	latex $DOC # insert resolved ref


bibclean
Syntax check for bibtex. It can also uniform the style,
but I don't use it that way.

bibindex
Builds up and index file for fast search in your own
database.

kbibtex
Powerful tool which lets you add all entries graphically,
lets you easily add bibtex entries from various webpages
and lets you merge and export files.
http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~fischer/kbibtex/

bibutils
If you want to convert between various formats, this
may be your program.

= Path =

You can use
export BIBINPUTS=$HOME/to/bibtex/files
in your shell startup to have a place where to put
all your bibtex files.

To include the file elektra.bib in above mentioned or
same folder like latex document you have to use:
\bibliography{elektra}


= Web =

Here are some links to cite collections.

http://liinwww.ira.uka.de/bibliography/index.html
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/
http://www.citeulike.org/

= Further Information =

http://www.tug.org/pracjourn/2006-4/fenn/fenn.pdf
http://andy-roberts.net/misc/latex/latextutorial3.html
http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~hildebr/tex/bibliographies0.html The top ten Tips