Should Zotero items appear in the Awesome Bar?

MattM

Hi!

I was just organising my bookmarks and wordered if I should migrate them entirely to Zotero, which is obviously much more powerful than the conventional bookmark library of Firefox.

I then realised that one feature I would miss is the possibility to "search" my bookmarks simply via the URL bar (aka Awesome Bar). I.e., I can type something into the URL bar, and if it matches the name of a bookmark, the bookmark will appear as a suggestion in the results list, with a star next to it. That's a very handy feature.

What would you think of adding Zotero items to the address bar-suggestions in a similar way? It would be awesome indeed to be able to type the name of an author, or the title of a paper, into the address bar and get results from the Zotero database. In particular, Zotero could then completely replace conventional bookmarks.

Would it be hard to implement? Any objections?

mronkko

I see that this has at least one key problem. If the Zotero item is not a web page and is not associated with an URL, what page would be loaded if I entered a reference in the bar?

Personally I prefer to keep my bookmarks and my references separate, but this is a matter of opinion.

MattM

I don't think that's a key problem. The easiest (and least satisfying) solution for such non-URL items would be to just display the title/reference in the results list, without being able to directly go to them. That, at least, would serve as a reminder. However, if technically feasible, it would be better to go to the item within Zotero, or, if it's a note, open it in a note window. I guess some solution could be found. Even if the suggested feature would only work for browser-displayable items (websites, pdfs etc), it could replace the need for conventional bookmarks.

My problem with the Zotero-Bookmark-duality is that there is no clear line between them. It is hard to decide whether an item is better represented as a bookmark or as a Zotero entry, which in turn makes it hard to have a consistent system for what should go to Zotero and what should go to the bookmarks. Even if I'd be happy with using both simultaneously, I might forget where I put a particular item. Without a central search function, I'd always have to look in both databases.

This might sound like a small problem, but I believe that centralised access to information is hugely powerful for information management. It can lead to serendipitous (re-)discovery of information that would otherwise have remained unused. The Awesome Bar goes a long way in that direction, which should be exploited by Zotero.

ajlyon

You should take a look at Gnotero to get some of this capability.

Do you happen to know off-hand whether there is a defined way for add-ons to contribute to the awesome bar?