How to convert files into Zotero?

Zimvie

Is this even possible to do? I have been trying to download files from files into Zotero. They have important pdfs attached to them, but Zotero cannot read it. I cannot change the format of the file unless I still want it readable. I can't even download them individually. I have noticed if I do convert the files from .zip I can drag them onto Zotero, but the information from the pdf is not taken with it. Just looking for some advice. Thanks!

adamsmith

Sorry, I don't understand the questions -- could you start explaining what you're trying to do one step earlier? What types of files importing from where?

Zimvie

So I have been tasked to move files from SharePoint over to Zotero. I took a sample of the large file system to see what I could do. It downloaded as zip file and would not transfer. I tried using one of the formats that I am familiar with (.RIS), but same error appeared. I tried to drag files over and had some success, but it will not pull information from the file leaving the attachment on Zotero blank other than page count and name of the file.

adamsmith

If there's an error importing RIS, we'd want to see a sample RIS file -- that should generally work.

More generally, I'm still confused about what files we're talking about. (As you know) SharePoint is a generic file sync system, so you can have any file type with any sort of content in it. Nor would SharePoint typically have any structured metadata associated with files that Zotero could import. So, if the question is, can Zotero take an assortment of random files and somehow ingest them and attach them to structured information, the answer is no.

Zotero can retrieve metadata for PDFs, but that will principally work for academic works, especially journal articles.