Zetoc and Bookends?

Phil82 · Post by **Phil82** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 9:30 am

I'm trying to get Zetoc to work with Bookends, but so far I'm not having any luck.

The Zetoc website is available at http://zetoc.mimas.ac.uk/, and it's a very very popular site for citations, in the UK. Is there any way of getting Bookends to work with it?

Post by **Jon** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 1:36 pm

What exactly would you like to have Bookends do with Zetoc?

Jon
Sonny Software

Phil82 · Post by **Phil82** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:33 pm

Sorry, I should have been more clear

.

What would be really ideal, is to be able to search Zetoc from within Bookends. This would be similar to the way Bookends is currently able to search the MIT library, Library of Congress, etc.

Failing that, Zetoc provides it's records as a downloadable text file. End Note has the necessary filter importing it, and it would be nice if Bookends was able to import it too. I've spent some time trying to write my own filter, but that has failed horribly. I know I should start a thread about it on the appropriate forum... In any case, the format for the files Zetoc uses is available here.

Hope I provided enough information.[/url]

Post by **Jon** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 4:35 pm

I've created a filter based on the information at the URL you provided. I can't test it, however, because I obviously don't have privileges with Zetoc. So no doubt it needs work.

If you want, you can contact me directly and I'll send you the filter to try. It's likely we can get this to work.

Jon
Sonny Software
support@sonnysoftware.com

Phil82 · Post by **Phil82** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:40 pm

Thanks for the filter Jon. I'll try that tomorrow when I get to work.

In the mean time, I've been trying to write a filter for the files that Zetoc allows us to download. The format of the files is available on the same interfaces page.

Here's what a sample file looks like.

AU: Sprott, J. C.
AU: Rowlands, G.
TI: Improved Correlation Dimension Calculation
JT: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIFURCATION AND CHAOS IN APPLIED SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
IS: 0218-1274
PD: 2001
IU: VOL 11; PART 7
PG: 1865-1880
FQ: Quarterly: 4 issues per year
PB: WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING CO
PP: Great Britain
LA: English
DC: 515.35
LC: Q172.5.C45
SM: 4542.129500
ID: RN102048982

I've created a new filter, placed the corresponding tags I can find into the "tags" column, but I fail to import any documents. To make matters worse, the files that can be downloaded don't contain only 1 reference. They can contain hundreds, and each record is separated by a blank line (I'm assuming that's a carriage return, i.e. CR). The reason they provide such downloadable files, is so that people who don't have direct access to Zetoc, will be able to download the records onto their machine in text format, and import them into a program like Endnote/Bookends.

Any help with such a filter would be helpful too

This would be ideal to have, as I can't access Zetoc directly from home, only from the office. Admittedly.... this could be a good thing!

Post by **Jon** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 3:51 pm

It looks like it would be simple to import. If nothing is imported, you probably haven't set "reference begins with" properly. In your example it would be 'AU:'

Jon
Sonny Software

Phil82 · Post by **Phil82** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:45 pm

Thanks for the quick response. I'm including a link to what my filter currently looks like (as the filters seem to be in some binary format that can't be posted easily on the forums).

http://www.imagehosting.us/index.php?ac ... nt=1741827

I can't think of what else to do to make it work, but I really really appreciate the effort Jon is making to answer my questions

Post by **Jon** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:53 pm

Wouldn't it be easier to just zip and send me that filter and a file with one reference you are trying to import?

Jon
Sonny Software

Phil82 · Post by **Phil82** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:44 am

Indeed. Blame it on me working late at night

. I'll zip it and send it to you.

Phil82 · Post by **Phil82** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:05 pm

Thank you so much! The filter works now, for the text files anyway. I have yet to check if the filter for direct connections to Zetoc work as my office was burgled

Will let you know what I get to log on next.

p.s. Will this filter be put in the new distribution of Bookends? I'm sure that will help the popularity of Bookends tremendously.

Post by **Jon** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:10 pm

If we (you and I) can get the z39.50 search to work, yes, we'll add it to the next update.

Jon
Sonny Software

Phil82 · Post by **Phil82** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:09 pm

Thank you so much for the help so far. I've plonked down the money for the full copy of Bookends. The product itself is better than BibDesk and Endnotes, but what really makes Bookends stand out is the support. That alone is reason enough for me to buy it (even though I'm on a meagre student stipend).

You guys are doing a phenomenal job of supporting Bookends.

Post by **Jon** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:00 pm

Thanks. Let me know when you've had a chance to try the z39.50 Zetoc search (directly, so we can work through any issues that might arise).

Jon
Sonny Software