I am a member of a group that wants to set up a bibliography for a project. It would be nice if the bibliography could be accessed live (not exported and downloaded) and offer access to the linked attachments to all members of the group.
I currently have a Bookends database with > 10,000 references, and perhaps 500-1,000 are relevant to this new project. We'll probably add 500–1000 more references to the shared database. I really do not want to share my personal database. I keep my attachments in a Dropbox folder. Not everyone in this project will have a Macintosh, nor an iOS device, nor Dropbox. I suspect all will have access to Google Drive.
I want to be able to co-manage this database with another person ("Alice") who has a Mac.
My first thought was to set up a new database ("Shared") and copy the relevant references from my database into it, to get started. Then I could share the Shared database with Alice, who could edit it.
But it looks like Bookends just allows one Attachments folder that is shared among all open databases? I can't figure out how to share only the attachments associated with the Shared database with Alice, or how to share them via Drive instead of Dropbox.
I am hoping to turn on serving of the database (perhaps from a dedicated computer in my office) so that non-Macintosh people will have access to it, but I haven't done this yet.
Any thoughts? Is this scenario addressed anywhere?
TIA
Setting up a shared database
Re: Setting up a shared database
You can share live databases with other Bookends users via cloud sync. Of course that requires that they use a Mac or iOS device. That's covered in detail in the User Guide, but this video tutorial should be sufficient to get it working
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sS3SNt-btU
Independently of that, you can also share PDFs from a folder that is independent of the default attachment folder on a per-library basis. Use File -> Set Default Attachment Subfolder (also described in detail in the User Guide).
Jon
Sonny Software
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sS3SNt-btU
Independently of that, you can also share PDFs from a folder that is independent of the default attachment folder on a per-library basis. Use File -> Set Default Attachment Subfolder (also described in detail in the User Guide).
Jon
Sonny Software
Re: Setting up a shared database
To start ... You would do well to review copyright restrictions on sharing the PDFs in the way that you describe. At least in the US, Fair Use gives latitude to share for the intent of educational use, but how much you share under such a rubric can be problematic. For example, what strictly defined educational purpose is to be fulfilled by sharing (giving away to someone else) 500 or more PDFs that you currently have sole right to hold through whatever legally valid way that you obtained them? Collaboration on a joint project is not going to be an acceptable or proper answer.
Suppose you take the opposite extreme. Rather than you each giving away PDFs in a manner that could be seen to violate Fair Use copyright, you each stay strictly with sharing the necessary and sufficient information required for anyone of you to get the PDF if desired. In this approach, the base information that you each share with each other as needed might be the title, authors, journal, year, and DOI of each journal article. The presumption is that you each have your certifiable method to get "legal" (copyright approved) downloads of the associated documents as needed.
Taking this approach, you each have your own bibliography/reference management app (Bookends and Bookends, but it could be Bookends and Zotero or Bookends and Mendeley or ...). Now, in your case with Bookends, create a Static Group called > Export to Alice. When you have references that you wish to share, put them in this group. Routinely export the references from this group as BibTeX or RIS. Send or share the exported citation list with Alice.
By comparison to my comments above, consider when you are working with Alice jointly on reviewing one specific PDF or another to gain cooperative insights to help with the project. Here, you are certainly within bounds to argue successfully that you are both engaging in activities covered under the educational rubric to the Fair Use guidelines. You (or Alice) are in bounds to "give away" (share) a copy of the PDF to the other person.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, least of all a legal expert in copyright. I am however duly enough concerned to raise the above fuss about asking for a method to take a large mass of PDFs that you have gathered otherwise by due process and simply give the entire mass of documents away (share them) with someone else. Absent that you are also asking Jon to take the full risk to certify that his credentials are grounded to give you permission to share carte blanche in such a manner, I think you may be treading on ground where you should likely not go.
ps ... You could switch to Mendeley or Papers or Zotero, whereby credentials for any one person to share entire libraries of documents (at least for Mendeley) with someone else seem to have been accepted. Hence, in the other apps, you find the built-in ability to "share my library with groups of people". I say _seem to be accepted_ again with caveat that I am not a legal expert on whether such an approach is valid even if it is in-built in the application itself.
Suppose you take the opposite extreme. Rather than you each giving away PDFs in a manner that could be seen to violate Fair Use copyright, you each stay strictly with sharing the necessary and sufficient information required for anyone of you to get the PDF if desired. In this approach, the base information that you each share with each other as needed might be the title, authors, journal, year, and DOI of each journal article. The presumption is that you each have your certifiable method to get "legal" (copyright approved) downloads of the associated documents as needed.
Taking this approach, you each have your own bibliography/reference management app (Bookends and Bookends, but it could be Bookends and Zotero or Bookends and Mendeley or ...). Now, in your case with Bookends, create a Static Group called > Export to Alice. When you have references that you wish to share, put them in this group. Routinely export the references from this group as BibTeX or RIS. Send or share the exported citation list with Alice.
By comparison to my comments above, consider when you are working with Alice jointly on reviewing one specific PDF or another to gain cooperative insights to help with the project. Here, you are certainly within bounds to argue successfully that you are both engaging in activities covered under the educational rubric to the Fair Use guidelines. You (or Alice) are in bounds to "give away" (share) a copy of the PDF to the other person.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, least of all a legal expert in copyright. I am however duly enough concerned to raise the above fuss about asking for a method to take a large mass of PDFs that you have gathered otherwise by due process and simply give the entire mass of documents away (share them) with someone else. Absent that you are also asking Jon to take the full risk to certify that his credentials are grounded to give you permission to share carte blanche in such a manner, I think you may be treading on ground where you should likely not go.
ps ... You could switch to Mendeley or Papers or Zotero, whereby credentials for any one person to share entire libraries of documents (at least for Mendeley) with someone else seem to have been accepted. Hence, in the other apps, you find the built-in ability to "share my library with groups of people". I say _seem to be accepted_ again with caveat that I am not a legal expert on whether such an approach is valid even if it is in-built in the application itself.
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JJW
JJW
Re: Setting up a shared database
Actually, Bookends doesn't share PDFs at all. The PDFs are shared by a file sync service like iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. Bookends merely stores (and shares) the names of the PDFs, which of course are not copyrighted.
Jon
Sonny Software
Jon
Sonny Software
Re: Setting up a shared database
Apologies Jon. I see the distinction. My concern is with the mentality that one can "share" a large number of PDFs with no respect to copyright. The legal and ethical questions surrounding this action are certainly solely for the OP (and anyone else considering such an approach) to resolve.
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JJW
JJW
Re: Setting up a shared database
Thanks, Jon. I didn't understand what the Default Attachment Subfolder meant. This clears it up.
Alan
Alan
Jon wrote: ↑Fri Mar 28, 2025 8:14 am You can share live databases with other Bookends users via cloud sync. Of course that requires that they use a Mac or iOS device. That's covered in detail in the User Guide, but this video tutorial should be sufficient to get it working
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sS3SNt-btU
Independently of that, you can also share PDFs from a folder that is independent of the default attachment folder on a per-library basis. Use File -> Set Default Attachment Subfolder (also described in detail in the User Guide).
Jon
Sonny Software