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RIS Format Bug?

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:52 pm
by cboulanger
Hi,

I am exporting references from BE to Zotero using the RIS export format. When exporting book chapters the title of the chapter gets imported as the book title and vice versa. The RIS export format exports like this:

$T2 - $v
$T1 - $t

According to English wikipedia [1], the RIS specification say this:

T2 - Secondary Title
TI - Title

According to the German version [2] (which is probably plain wrong), it is:

T1 - Primary title
TI - Book title

The RIS specifications that can be downloaded from RIS itself [3] don't mention "T2" at all, but use them in one example

TY - CHAP
AU - Franks,L.M.
TI - Preface by an AIDS Victim
PY - 1991
VL - 3
T2 - Cancer, HIV and AIDS

So the RIS format should probably be:

$T2 - $v
$TI - $t

Thanks,

C.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIS_%28file_format%29
[2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIS_%28Dateiformat%29
[3] http://www.refman.com/support/risformat_intro.asp

Re: RIS Format Bug?

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:43 pm
by Jon
Thanks for the post, I think you're right. I've changed the format we distribute. You can do that yourself, or if you'd prefer you can get it from our ftp site (or email me).

Jon
Sonny Software

Re: RIS Format Bug?

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 6:23 am
by cboulanger
Thanks Jon.

There might be another problem with the RIS format that I have discussed with the Zotero guys here:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic ... 49JA2qIN2o

(You might have to subscribe to read it). The summary is that the RIS format tags "editor" fields with "A3". The Zotero translator, in contrast, looks for "ED". According to Wikipedia [1], the RIS format doesn't have an "editor" field as such, just "Tertiary Author", which Bookends uses.

They said that Wikipedia is incorrect here and the official RIS specs [2] say that ED exists and A3 is the "series author" and should not be imported as an editor by default. Editor should be A2 or ED (which the RefDB docs call a synonym for A2).

Thanks,
C.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIS_(file_format)
[2] http://www.refman.com/support/risformat_tags_02.asp

Re: RIS Format Bug?

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:45 am
by Jon
The RefMan docs should be taken as definitive. I'll change it to ED.

Jon
Sonny Software