Whole group library missing

rosan.w.chow

Hello,

I am an owner of a group 'Research Through Design'. For some reasons, the whole group library is gone. I am quite shocked. Could someone please help? I hope there is a way to retrieve it.

Thank you.
Rosan

dstillman

55 items (including child attachments/notes) were deleted from that library on April 5th, but that's about all I can tell you. This would've had to have been an explicit deletion by someone—either you or some other member of the group.

Do you have a backup copy of your local database from before that date?

rosan.w.chow

Thanks Dan. i did not delete this. I could not imagine why any of the admins would do such a thing on purpose.

No, I don't have a backup copy. I know, this sounds ridiculus. Any chance of retriving it? And is there a way to find out who has deleted the whole library?

dstillman

No, we don't keep data that's been deleted or records of who deletes things (though we should perhaps change the latter).

If anyone in your group has a backup copy of their Zotero data directory (e.g., someone on a Mac using Time Machine, which makes automated backups), it'd be possible, though a little complicated, to restore the items.

rosan.w.chow

Hi Dan,

I have asked someone who knows much better than I do to retreive a backup copy 'Zotero.squlite' (which is a UNIX executable file). Would you please instruct me how I can put the file back to Zotero? I am unable to open the file with my MAC.

many thanks.

dstillman

I provided you with a link to instructions above:

http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#restoring_your_synced_zotero_library_from_a_backup

rosan.w.chow

Hi Dan,

I have read the instructions following the link.
But I still have a question about restoring a missing library from a backup. I have several personal libraries and group libraries but only one is missing. And my back up is only for this missing library.

I am afraid of messing everything up. do I really just follow the instruction?

thanks,
rosan

adamsmith

what do you mean by "my back up is only for this missing library"?
How did you make that back-up?
If you have a proper Zotero back-up as described above, there is no way to have that of anything but your entire Zotero library & all groups. If that back-up is from someone else's computer, don't use it on yours, though.

rosan.w.chow

Hi Adam,

see, this is how ignorant I am with this technology.
The back-up that I have was retrieved from a server of a company that I used to work for. Last June, I beg a technician there to get the back-up for me. I don't have the company's computer anymore, but my own Macbook. But since then, I have created more collections and new group library on my Macbook.
So when I said that 'my back-up is only for this missing library', I really meant that 'the back-up does not have everything'.
Rosan

adamsmith

yes, so the back-up will restore the library to the state it was in when you took the back-up - meaning that everything since then is lost, so that doesn't sound terribly attractive.

You could install the old back-up on a separate Firefox&Zotero profile or a new computer, though, and get the group library back from there. That is all getting a bit involved, though, so ideally you'd find someone tech-savvy to help you locally.

rosan.w.chow

OK. Thanks. I am glad I have asked.

kevincinque

I'm glad I'm reading about this stuff now before something possibly goes wrong. Just added a bunch of members to a 1329 article zotero group. Found out that members can edit everything/anything. Never navigated through my directories faster to copy that sqlite!
Though I wonder in the future if it would be possible to create an admin approval system for member change submissions? Is there a feature wishlist/freelancer page for Zotero?

dstillman

kevincinque: You realize that you can change the group library settings so that members can't edit?

Is there a feature wishlist/freelancer page for Zotero?

If you have a feature request that you can't find in a search, you can just start a new thread.

Anyhow, closing this thread, since the original issue was resolved.