Zotero Software and the Mobile Devices - Updated

Martha sent me a link from the Chronicle that discussed a way to use Zotero on the iPad.  Good information but the save process in the original article was flawed. Adam's comment for this blog post provided the updated article URL at http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/the-zotero-bookmarklet-for-the-ipad-and-iphone/44490

The corrected process worked!  I dragged the "Save to Zotero" button to Safari bookmarklets. When I clicked the bookmarklet, the webpage was saved to Zotero.  It even picked up the fact that the webpage was a blog!  See the screenshot below:

Note:  Zotero is now a standalone app for Mac and Microsoft Windows computers.

The good news is that the process provided the opportunity to explore citation software and iPad integration. The not so good news is that development is not a one-click solution as of yet.   The resources I found are:

• ZotPad ($9.99) - allows access to Zotero libraries from a mobile device.  It is available from the Apple app store at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zotpad/id497260579?mt=8 
• BibUp (free) - has a barcode reader to scan in the name and author(s) of books.  Afterwards, you have to use other steps to get the rest of the citation data. It is available from the Apple app store at https://itunes.apple.com/app/bibup-universite-de-fribourg/id418304170?mt=8  Interesting - that I could not find it using the app store search tool, but had to search on the Internet and follow the cookie trail into the back door of the app store.

For additional information about Zotero and mobile devices, go to http://www.zotero.org/support/mobile

Disabling Zotero in Firefox - Another Way

Another way to disable Zotero in Firefox is to open Zotero > Click on the gear icon > Preference > unclick sync.  It is easier than disabling the function from the Add-ons menu.

Disabling Zotero in Firefox

As usual, the students push me to learn new things. :-)  This semester, I have asked the GC students to use EndNote citation manager.  It is free through the University and paid for with student technology fee funds.

Prior to this year, we have used Zotero.  The problem is that when we search the digital library and use the export function with Firefox, Zotero "hijacks" the exported citation and will not allow the it to be imported into EndNote.  In the past, I switched to using another  web browser.

With a little research, I found the correction is very simple - just disable Zotero!
In the Firefox web browser, go to Tools > Add-ons.  Select Extensions from the menu >scroll down and click disable by each listing for Zotero.

When you want to use Zotero again, enable it.  Enjoy!

Zotero Update

One last update!  Zotero citation manager is now a standalone product!  That is really good news for the few people who  do not want to use Firefox or have problem using Firefox with Zotero.

The standalone installs Zotero into the Word menu when it installs on the computer.  That is especially good for my non-techie students who stumble over two different installs.

For more information, go to http://www.zotero.org/support/3.0

When I was demonstrating Zotero during a webinar last week - the menu did not show up in Word :-(
Yes, it had been working previously.  I found that the problem was because I had not downloaded the latest Firefox web browser.  Afterward a download of the most recent web browser - Zotero was there!!!

Now, if Zotero would only release an iPad app!

Personal Bibliographic Manager Software: Endnote? Zotero? or Both?

I was reading an article this morning that provided an analogy that the use of technology is like learning to ride a bicycle with no training wheels.  How true, especially for those who are uncomfortable using technology.  Switching from using hand-written notecards to store reference information to a software solution can be an adjustment.  I have been teaching students how to use EndNote (http://www.endnote.com/) for several years now.  I began teaching undergraduate students to use Zotero (http://www.zotero.org/)just a couple of years ago.  My colleague, Karen, said that she attempted to use Zotero with graduate students and had all sorts of problems.  She has decided to switch back to requiring EndNote, but accept Zotero for students who cannot affort to purchase EndNote.

One of my students is writing a paper about the use of Zotero and inadvertently nudged me to learn something new :)!  She had downloaded the beta version of Zotero that allows for sharing of references and synching the reference library with the Zotero server.  Wow, did that get my attention!!  Why?   I now will begin to use the sharing aspect of the references with students in courses that I teach.  I really like the way that I can grab info from web sites in Zotero and attach any associated PDF file with a click of the mouse.  I  also like the way that I can use EndNote to search for articles in PubMed and also search for PDF copies of the references.  Because the two software packages have different strengths, I have decided to use a combination of the two.  I can export references from EndNote into Zotero so that the file can be synched and shared.  To learn more about the beta version of Zotero, go to http://www.zotero.org/support/2.0_beta

Exporting Citations to Zotero from a Digital Library

Had this email request after the Writing for Publication workshop on Thursday -

"hi - I've forgotten a step in saving to ZOTERO.
I downloaded foxfire, ZOTERO, and the WORD plug-in.
I went to GALILEO, found an article , and checked it in folder view.
I see the ZOTERO bar in the lower right of my screen.
I can't remember what to do next.
Thanks!"

(Note: Although this example uses CINAHL with Fulltext from EBSCOHost in the Galileo database, it should work with other digital library databases)
Make sure that you are accessing the digital library using the Firefox web browser.

Open the folder view of the articles that you saved.
Click the Select All box and then click the last icon on the left – Export

On the next window, click the Save button (keep the default – Direct Export to EndNote, ProCite….)

Click on the word Zotero in the bottom-right of the Firefox web browser. You should see all of citations for the articles that you selected in the digital library.

Personal Reference Manager - Exporting Citations from EndNote to Zotero

Two new members of our Web 2.0/Health 2.0 research team will be using Zotero to manage citations.  I needed to share the citations information that our GCSU team members had already collected.  The solution was not obvious at first because the export functions in Zotero differ from Endnote.

I knew that Endnote could import files from Zotero if I had exported them as a RIS file. The screenshot on the left shows the export file formats that are available in Zotero.

The problem  was the export features in Endnote were different (See screenshot above).  RIS was not listed as a file type.   

The solution?  I had to select RefMan (RIS) Export as the Output Style using the drop-down menu by output style first (See screenshot below) and then export the file as a text file(.txt)!  I found the solution counter-intuitive, but it worked! 

This information supplements Chapter 12 (Thede & Sewell) on Digital Libraries and Personal Reference Managers.