Limit syncing to specific collections/libraries

dstillman · January 12, 2023

This discussion was created from comments split from: work version vs home account.

DWL-SDCA · January 12, 2023

I've been thinking about this for more than a decade. I wish that it was easy to limit syncing to specific collections/subcollections. Or, perhaps, to a separate library. That is, to only sync when changes are made to records in specified collections while changes to other collections do not sync. I know that some issues can be handled by using Groups but that doesn't really address my (maybe, unique) situation.

I use Zotero primarily for an unconventional purpose -- I download several hundred metadata records each day, export those in MODS format, and then delete those same records. Syncing those temporary records would be unnecessary and messy. I also have my personal research Zotero library that is (rarely) synced. I want the convenience and safety of syncing that personal library but I don't want the synced library to be subjected to 500+ records being added and then deleted every day.

I thought of having multiple accounts but (I think) that requires me to have different user-accounts on my computer (and, knowing myself) I would soon foul that process.

I do have more than one computer and considered having different Zotero accounts on each. I have a friend who uses 2 Zotero accounts, one on a work machine and the other on a 'home' machine because she wants to keep her personal writing distinct from her work.

I'm content with my current use of Zotero but I wonder if more flexibility with library syncing would be good for me. At the same, time having that flexibility might primarily serve to make Zotero uncomfortably complex for the vast majority of users.