Imported Qiqqa tags

Chell

I'm trying to figure out how feasible it is to maintain my database in both zotero and qiqqa - each has strong features i would like to use.

Successfully imported my qiqqa library - with pdfs! - into zotero. Great! But my tags are messed up. Any simple solution here other than going through and renaming/re-assigning tags?

At very least, it would be nice to be able to search by tag and then re-tag the items that come up.

Thanks!

adamsmith

How did you export/import? Bibtex? In that case post a single bibtex export with keywords from Quiqqa here.

(In general I do not think it's realistically feasible or desirable to use two citation managers. You do lose data/details exporting and importing, it messes with sync and it messes with word processor integration.)

Chell

Yes, with bibtex. Not sure how to post what you are asking for... is it possible to attach files here?

Thanks!

(Qiqqa has different functions from Zotero - better annotation and tab searches)

adamsmith

open the .bib file in notepad and copy one entry - i.e. from one @article (or @book or so) to the next - here.

I realize that Qiqqa has features Zotero doesn't have - I'm just saying you will spend much more time fixing issues with import/export and its consequences than you'll benefit from the features - not just initially to get things working but also in the long term. It's up to you of course, that's just a recommendation to stick with one of the two. (I want to get the keyboard import fixed in any case, so I'm happy to work with you on that either way).

Chell

Thanks! Here is a line from the .bib file:

@article{whitehead2004evidence
, title = {Evidence for public health policy on inequalities: 2: Assembling the evidence jigsaw}
, author = {Whitehead, M. and Petticrew, M. and Graham, H. and Macintyre, S.J. and Bambra, C. and Egan, M.}
, journal = {Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health}
, volume = {58}
, number = {10}
, pages = {817--821}
, year = {2004}
, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}
, filename = {I:\Office\AcadWork\ELPH\References\Qiqqa\docs\Whitehead2004 - Evidence for public health policy on inequalities- 2- Assembling the evidence jigsaw.pdf}
, file = {Whitehead2004 - Evidence for public health policy on inequalities- 2- Assembling the evidence jigsaw.pdf:docs/Whitehead2004 - Evidence for public health policy on inequalities- 2- Assembling the evidence jigsaw.pdf:application/pdf}
, tags = {ELPH;Equity}
, keywords = {ELPH;Equity}
}


The tags show up as "ELPH;Equity" in zotero. Would be nice if they could be separated on import.

I've been using qiqqa but am certainly interesting in learning what zotero has to offer, especially if I can transfer the work I've done so far with relative ease!

Cheers!

adamsmith

Zotero doesn't like the semicolons as separators. There is no clear standard for bibtex (the keywords field doesn't formally exist in plain bibtex afaik, though noksagt is always the better person to ask.)
The bibLaTeX manual
http://ctan.mackichan.com/macros/latex/contrib/biblatex/doc/biblatex.pdf
is quite explicit about the lists being comma separated (p. 29).

Stepping back:
If you replace the semicolon between ELPH and Equity with a comma, these will import as separate tags in Zotero, depending on whether you have semicolons anywhere else in your data a very simple search & replace would work. I think the cleanest solution would be to suggest to Qiqqa that they use commas instead of semicolons as that is closer to the established norm.

That said, unless there are objections by someone, I would add the semicolon as a possible delimiter for keywords - this isn't unheard of in general, see e.g. here: http://www.csulb.edu/~tgredig/bibtex.php and I currently can't think of a downside, but it's possible I'm missing something.

adamsmith

As for Qiqqa vs. Zotero - I'm curious about what exactly you're using Qiqqa for - obviously Zotero has neither tabbed searches nor built-in PDF annotations, but depending on how you're using those and what you want to achieve much of it may still be possible in other ways.

aurimas

That said, unless there are objections by someone, I would add the semicolon as a possible delimiter for keywords - this isn't unheard of in general, see e.g. here: http://www.csulb.edu/~tgredig/bibtex.php and I currently can't think of a downside, but it's possible I'm missing something.

That should be ok. The only downside is that typically we would try to split on semicolon first and if it doesn't split, we would split on comma, which is not going to work with the way BibTeX translator is written now (due to ability to set custom delimiters). We'd have to split on both semicolon and comma at the same time.

While we're fixing BibTeX, I think https://github.com/zotero/translators/blob/master/BibTeX.js#L1692 should be /\s+/

And https://github.com/zotero/translators/blob/master/BibTeX.js#L1567 should probably account for spaces preceding a comma (and now semicolon)

Chell

hi adamsmith...
the main feature of qiqqa that i plan to use is the annotation reporter. i'm in the process of studying for phd exams and need to be able to make searchable notes on a large number of pdfs and print those notes along with relevant content in some kind of systematic fashion. i also want to be able to quickly see which documents have what tags.
can zotero help me do this? i know a lot of people who love zotero and i would like to use it if i can.
cheers,
r

Chell

p.s. i meant to tell you that substituting ; with , seemed to work ok for the time being! thanks.

adamsmith

annotate you pdfs in your favorite PDF viewer - pdfXchange - which now also has OCR - is an obvious free choice on Windows.
Use Zotfile to extract annotations into notes:
http://www.jlegewie.com/zotfile.html

Display items with their tags and notes using reports;
http://www.zotero.org/support/reports

It's not quite what Qiqqa does - e.g. you don't get the nice snippet images from the articles in the notes/reports - but it provides most of the functionality.

adamsmith

The translator fix is now up. Your version of Zotero will automatically update within 24hs, or you can update manually using the "Update Now" button in the "General" tab of the Zotero preferences.

Any problems let us know.

Chell

Translator seems to be working - thank you!

Almost sold on your annotation protocol, except that my reports are produced with html interspersed, and many spaces missing, e.g.:

<p>"itisbeingincreasinglyrecognisedthatmarinefishingis an essential element of broader integrated coastal management strategies [3,5,6]. This Special Issue therefore asks: What are the social and cultural impacts of marine fishing on coastal communities, and how can approaches to valuing these impacts be developed and integrated into the policy process?" (Urquhart et al 2012:1)</p><p><i>5 capitals assessment - oyster farming had a positive effect on social fabric (note on p.2)</i></p><br>

what can i do differently?

thanks!

Chell

Hmm... even with the report cleaner at http://jasonpriem.org/projects/report_cleaner.php, my reports are still coming out full of html code.

How can I fix this? I've just spend 2 weeks annotating full-time, and it's a bit late to switch back to Qiqqa...

Also, are you aware of a simple workflow protocol for using zotfile with dropbox and an ipad or other tablet? I saw you warned someone else about pointing directly to dropbox?


Thanks!!
R

adamsmith

see here on using symlinks with dropbox:
https://zotpad.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/103395-what-is-a-symbolic-link-and-why-should-i-use-one-w
(the article is on the Zotpad iOS app page, but applies generally).

The other option is to use Zotfile's "send to tablet" function.

On reports, please follow-up with Dan in the other thread on posted to:
http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/23036/reports-formatting-unreliable-often-html-tags-displayed-instead-/#Item_30