A particular item not getting shown as Duplicate Item, but present in multiple collections

cpatel.connect

Hi,

I am using Zotero Beta and my report id is 282849429.

I have imported multiple items through 3 RIS file and these are placed as 3 collections under My Library.

Since there were same items in different RIS files, these items were getting shown as Duplicate Items. So, I thought of removing these duplicate items, while keeping one item in any one of the folders based on my primary observation of which item to be kept in the database. I completed this exercise and there were no duplicate items in Duplicate Items Collection.

However, I noticed some items are still existing in multiple collections, but it is getting shown as one item in My Library. When I clicked on Item Pan and saw Libraries and Collections, I accidentally noticed that a particular item was present in multiple collections (screenshot attached). On scrolling down, I could find other duplicating items too.

Could you please explain, why it has happened? Is it a technical error in the app?

Thank you,

Chandrakant Patel

https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u12492975/yaraz6txkv45psdohnkz.jpg

cpatel.connect

Kindly help in resolving the aforesaid issue. Thank you.

adamsmith

That's not duplicate -- it's the same item existing in multiple collections, see https://www.zotero.org/support/collections_and_tags#the_zotero_collections_model

mjthoraval

It is important to understand that items can belong to multiple collections and subcollections. Adding an item to multiple collections does not duplicate the item. In this sense, collections are more like music playlists than folders in your computer filesystem. Just as a single song can be added to more than one playlist, a single item in a Zotero library can be added to multiple collections.

The library root — “My Library” for personal libraries or the group name for group libraries — always shows all items in the library, and items are duplicates only if they appear multiple times in that view.

https://www.zotero.org/support/collections_and_tags#collections

cpatel.connect

Appreciate your reply, @adamsmith and @mjthoraval.

While I had merged or removed several duplicate items (as present in the Duplicate Items Collection), the presence of one given item in multiple collections was not adequately understood at my level. Your reply has helped me to understand the issue.

As of now, I want to keep any given item in one collection only. So, I need to remove it from another collection(s), if it is present in two or more collections. This would keep the given item in one chosen collection.

Hope, I got it right and this would serve the purpose.

Thank you so much.