Old shared library, all new citations only on web

Francinegb

Hello - I had shared library with a research partner that I am no longer working with. I started a new library that is only mine, but apparently I have just been saving all my citations to the web since I made the switch, but when I try to open the desktop version on my computer it is the old, shared library. How do I get my web library to synch with my new Zotero desktop that only I have access to - I can seem to navigate to it at all as the one that is associated with my computer is still the old one. I am new to zotero and not tech savvy, so please explain any help with patience - thank you in advance!

dstillman

It depends what you mean. A "shared library" would generally refer to a group library, and in that case that doesn't affect your personal library. You can transfer the ownership of group libraries between accounts.

If you're saying you had a Zotero account shared with someone else — as in, you used the same login and password — and now you want to switch the desktop app to a different account, you can just unlink your old account from the Sync pane of the Zotero settings and set up syncing with the new account.

There's almost nothing in the personal library of the account you're posting from, so I'm not sure what you're referring to.

Francinegb

Hello - thank you for your time. So - last yer I spoke to someone at zotero about having used cclevelands account in the past and wanting to move my library out of that account and into my own account. What they had me do was keep the library called Dormilon as a group library, but change it so that I am the only member. So I am signed in to the web library under myself francinegb and have been adding citations to that library not realizing it was not associated with its own desktop library. The desktop account that is owned by ccleveland had been synching my citations from the web library up until I switched to being the sole member for the private group. I am not able to navigate or synch to a desktop account that is owned by me alone. I am unable to see if I even have one separate from ccleveland. If I unlink from ccleveland on my desktop will I automatically have a desktop version under francinegb or do I need to do something specific to do that first? I am terrified to lose my 275 citations in the group library and also - as it is only the web library - I cannot find guidance on how to back up the web library - which I would like to do before disengaging from the ccleveland ccleveland account. I hope this makes sense? I have done extensive searches and cant find any guidance here. Many thanks in advance.

dstillman

So I am signed in to the web library under myself francinegb and have been adding citations to that library not realizing it was not associated with its own desktop library.

There's no such thing as a "desktop library". There are personal libraries (My Library) and group libraries, and they all sync with any devices you set up for syncing.

The account Francinegb is the owner of the Dormilon group library, so if you want to see that data in your Zotero app locally, you just need to set up syncing with the Francinegb account, and that group will show up in the Zotero app.

If you want, you can then drag all collections and items from the Dormilon group library to the Francinegb personal library, but note that any copied items wouldn't be linked to citations in existing word processor documents, so if you're working on active projects with the word processor plugin you might want to just continue working out of the group library for now. You could still save new items to your personal library.

Francinegb

Thanks so much for the nomenclature clarification. As there is a "web library" I only assumed...

Can you be so kind as to let me know from the web interface how to set up synching the web library to my own desktop version of zotero? I have tried every tab, I am sure I am missing something.

And also I cant find a way to back up the web library - can you help with this?

Thank you again!

dstillman

You set up syncing in the settings of the desktop app.

The online library is on our servers, so we back it up, not you. If you want a local copy, that’s the point of syncing.

Francinegb

OK - thanks - I think I still have the same question as above then - I am not sure how to navigate to my desktop version. The only one I am linked to is the old one that is not mine. If I unlink with ccleveland, what exactly do I need to do to get to a desktop version associated with francinegb? I have never initiated or used this as I have only used ccleveland and then when I became the sole member of the group library Dormilon it automatically put me into the web library.

Francinegb

If I unlink from the ccleveland account is there any way that my web library will be lost as it is not associated with or synched to a desktop version of zotero?

Francinegb

So - the librarian at my university copied the library to her zotero account to be sure it was backed up - which was a big part of the issue here - is not having reassurances that the new citations would be safe - then we unlinked and synched.

Thanks so much for your time and thoughtful responses