Zotero for Firefox

[K1]

I don't think it's been mentioned in here, I thought people might be interested if they haven't heard of it. It's a great extension for Firefox 2.0, it pulls bibliographic information from various web sites, and you can export to RIS among other formats.

http://www.zotero.org/

[talazem]

I'm using FF and Zotero together as a front end to BE. Basically, I keep adding bibliographic info into Zotero (from JSTOR) until I'm done with my JSTOR session. I then have Zotero export all of my entries, which could be dozens, and i then import from that file into BE. I find it faster than using JSTOR's built in save citation function, and obviously faster than downloading and importing individual files. The fact that it has the abstracts included is nice.

[Pointyhead]

You can export databases from Zotero in RDF format, and it creates a folder with linked attachments. Would it be possible for Bookends to import the RDF file (or a modified version of it) and maintain the links to the attachments?

[Jon]

What is RDF?

Jon
Sonny Software

[Pointyhead]

Sorry--Resource Description Framework (RDF), it uses XML (not that I really know what I'm talking about). Info is here: http://www.w3.org/RDF/ . Here's a sample record exported in "Zotero RDF" format:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<RDF:RDF xmlns:fs="http://www.zotero.org/namespaces/export#"
         xmlns:link="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/link/"
         xmlns:vcard="http://nwalsh.com/rdf/vCard#"
         xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/"
         xmlns:prism="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/1.2/basic/"
         xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
         xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
         xmlns:bib="http://purl.org/net/biblio#"
         xmlns:NC="http://home.netscape.com/NC-rdf#"
         xmlns:RDF="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
  <RDF:Seq RDF:about="rdf:#$uqAkl3">
    <RDF:li RDF:resource="rdf:#$tqAkl3"/>
  </RDF:Seq>
  <bib:Journal RDF:about="urn:issn:00284866"
                   dc:identifier="ISSN 00284866"
                   dc:title="The New England Quarterly"
                   prism:volume="24"
                   prism:number="4" />
  <dcterms:URI RDF:about="rdf:#$vqAkl3"
                   RDF:value="http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0028-4866%28195112%2924%3A4%3C435%3AIND%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D" />
  <fs:Attachment RDF:ID="item:8288"
                   dc:title="0.pdf"
                   link:type="application/pdf"
                   dcterms:dateSubmitted="2006-11-28 05:51:24">
    <RDF:resource RDF:resource="files/8288/0.pdf"/>
    <dc:identifier RDF:resource="rdf:#$wqAkl3"/>
  </fs:Attachment>
  <dcterms:URI RDF:about="rdf:#$wqAkl3"
                   RDF:value="http://www.jstor.org/cgi-bin/jstor/printpage/00284866/ap020099/02a00020/0.pdf?dowhat=Acrobat" />
  <foaf:Person RDF:about="rdf:#$tqAkl3"
                   foaf:surname="Murray"
                   foaf:givenname="Henry A." />
  <bib:Article RDF:about="http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0028-4866%28195112%2924%3A4%3C435%3AIND%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D"
                   dc:title="In Nomine Diaboli"
                   dc:date="Dec., 1951"
                   dcterms:dateSubmitted="2006-11-28 05:51:23"
                   bib:pages="435-452">
    <bib:authors RDF:resource="rdf:#$uqAkl3"/>
    <dc:identifier RDF:resource="rdf:#$vqAkl3"/>
    <dcterms:isPartOf RDF:resource="urn:issn:00284866"/>
    <link:link RDF:resource="#item:8288"/>
  </bib:Article>
</RDF:RDF>

[Jon]

It's conceivable, but it's a lot of work. I'd have to see real demand for this, and know that the output format is stable. Maybe I missed it, but I don't see any pathnames to attachments in the example you posted, just URLs.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Pointyhead]

Code: Select all

    <RDF:resource RDF:resource="files/8288/0.pdf"/>  

"files/8288/0.pdf" is the pathname to the (awfully named) file 0.pdf; it's a relative address from the reference-file. The export consists of a folder with 1) the reference-file and 2) a folder named 'files' containing attachments.

I had hoped the RDF-formated file, and the required input processing, might be similar to the xml-generated Endnotes exports. Zotero is still in development of course, perhaps I'll inquire about the stability of this format. (Getting attachments from Zotero into Bookends is the last non-automated step in building a database for me.)

Have you ever considered making input processing ala Endnotes files a plug-in, so that other processing routines could be independently developed (similar to the way input filters are developed)? Or would that be a huge task itself?

[Jon]

Have you ever considered making input processing ala Endnotes files a plug-in, so that other processing routines could be independently developed (similar to the way input filters are developed)? Or would that be a huge task itself?

Yes, it would. It would be like recreating the import filter functions, except for XML. A whole new layer.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Pointyhead]

Last night I had the thought of writing a little routine to transform a Z-RDF file into an EN-like xml file. I'll pursue that when I have some time to fool with it (and, if successful, post results to the filter board).

[Luhmann]

It would be like recreating the import filter functions, except for XML. A whole new layer.

I think there is a lot of potential in having imports from XML - for instance, I would love to be able to import my CiteULike watch list RSS feed directly (and automatically) into Bookends. There are also journals which now offer RSS alerts of new issues. It would be great to subscribe to those new issues and be able to be alerted when they come out, selectively importing specific titles directly into Bookends.

Of course, there probably need to be better standards for how citations are handled in RSS feeds before this will be easy to do, still, in the long run I think it will become a required feature for all citation software and it is worth while to at least start thinking about how it might be implemented in the future.

[Jon]

XML is no panacea. It is just another way to output structured data, no different from RIS, Refer, etc. In other words, it's tagged data. Therefore, the problem remains of consistency. We have an import filter mechanism based on tags that is configurable for thousands of sources. This would have to be replicated (in a more complex form) in a parallel section to deal with XML. Bookends *does* support XML import and export using the EndNote DTD (which, BTW, was not trivial to implement).

Jon
Sonny Software

[aechallu]

Re: Importing Zotero RDF

It's conceivable, but it's a lot of work. I'd have to see real demand for this, and know that the output format is stable. Maybe I missed it, but I don't see any pathnames to attachments in the example you posted, just URLs.

I would be interested in interacting with Zotero more closely.

As other user pointed out I think Zotero is a good way to capture information while browsing without leaving the browser. At the same time I prefer Bookends' interface, formatting capabilities and communication with Mellel much better. I would definitely be interested in having a good mechanism to export/import the zotero RDF format to leverage the good things of both programs. I know it must be difficult to implement (and zotero's data model seems substantially different from bookends) but I believe it'd be worth doing.

[richierich]

Re: Importing Zotero RDF

It's conceivable, but it's a lot of work. I'd have to see real demand for this, and know that the output format is stable. Maybe I missed it, but I don't see any pathnames to attachments in the example you posted, just URLs.

I would be interested in interacting with Zotero more closely.

As other user pointed out I think Zotero is a good way to capture information while browsing without leaving the browser. At the same time I prefer Bookends' interface, formatting capabilities and communication with Mellel much better. I would definitely be interested in having a good mechanism to export/import the zotero RDF format to leverage the good things of both programs. I know it must be difficult to implement (and zotero's data model seems substantially different from bookends) but I believe it'd be worth doing.

I totally agree here. Zotero is a very good way to capture details of say a journal with title and abstract, without the hassle of cutting and pasting. Plus a attachments can be added.

So to have the Zotero RDF format as importable to Bookends would be excellent. Bookends is far more advanced for management of research material.

If it was difficult to create an import, how about bring some of Zotero's functionality into bookends, such as via a browser plug-in for Safari or Firefox??? All Zotero seems to do is import a citation download (Endnotes format) and then any associated attachments. Such a feature in Bookends would be very cool

[Jon]

Hi,

Bookends used to import directly from a browser pre-Safari. That's when, for security reasons, "unblessed" helper apps weren't supported. Since Bookends supports Safari as the main Mac browser, that feature had to be removed. You can still, of course, import from the clipboard if the browser displays the data in a tagged format...

Jon
Sonny Software