large Procite bibliography: how to start?
I have quite a large Procite bibliography ( < 50.000 ) that needs to be imported into zotero. I gather, from discussion on this list, that the first step is to get those records into a RIS format, and I've guessed that to do that I need to use the Procite conversion utility "Biblio-Link II", which I've got.
But at that point I'm stuck. I can't seem to get it to work, nor do I really understand how to take it from there. (With zotero I'm a novice.) I'd be really grateful for a bit of advice.
Best,
Dr. Frederik van Gelder
But at that point I'm stuck. I can't seem to get it to work, nor do I really understand how to take it from there. (With zotero I'm a novice.) I'd be really grateful for a bit of advice.
Best,
Dr. Frederik van Gelder
best,
fvg
The general idea is the same as here:
http://www.refworks.com/rwsingle/help/Exporting_from_Bibliographic_Programs_and_Importing_into_RefWorks.htm#ProCite
You'd need to find RIS.pos, which may be called Endnote-RIS.pos or something along those lines. There may be several of those around on the internet, so try them out. Unfortunately procite itself appears entirely dead, so you'll have to find it from somewhere else, maybe the one attached at the bottom here will do: http://www.adeptscience.co.uk/kb/article/223A
I would definitely experiment importing a small subset of your data (like 50-100 items of various types) to make sure everything goes smoothly. 50,000 items is a lot and there are other suggestions I would make for such a large import.
best,
fvg
I also added some tweaks to the RIS import translator in Zotero. Update your translator via Preferences -> General -> Update Now.
Before you even begin testing, make sure that your library is synced with zotero.org (unless you're not using sync at all, or if you are working with a fresh library). Then, make a backup of your Zotero library (unless you're starting with an empty one). Then, I would disable automatic syncing (Preferences -> Sync -> uncheck Sync automatically). Then, after your whole library is in the state that you want it to be in, I would use Preferences -> Sync -> Reset -> Restore to Server (Dan, can you confirm that this would provide performance improvements) and re-enable automatic sync.
Finally, as I said above, you should do some test runs before performing the full import. For the test runs, you should set the following hidden preferences:
extensions.zotero.translators.RIS.import.ignoreUnknown = false
Definitely flip those off for the actual import (unless you really don't want to lose any data, but this will slow things down)extensions.zotero.translators.RIS.import.ignoreUnknown = true
Oh, few more things. Currently, note attachments and tags (i.e. keywords) significantly impact Zotero's performance. If you do not need/want to keep notes/tags, there are tweaks you can make to Zotero that would prevent them from being imported. This may offer significant speed improvements for a huge import like that.
Are you also importing file attachments? (I don't think I've ever tested file attachment import from ProCite)
1) That procite export filter you kindly placed on dropbox: if I click on it it gets opened in my browser, and I can't download it. (I must be doing something wrong.)
2) Umlauts, special characters in the RIS input file - how does zotero handle this? (The usual UTF8/unicode problem. Is there a switch somewhere to say this RIS input file is ANSI or whatever?)
3) Yes, notes, tags, it's all in that RIS file.
4) File attachments. Procite has the data-field "Location/URL". Using that first procite export filter this parses correctly, to give me on the zotero side a field called "URL". This links correctly to the file that's needed, whether locally or on the web, opening it in the browser.
best,
fvg
1) I'm beginning to realize - with these rather limited regular expressions skills of mine - that the format of choice for doing some intermediary editing on these bibliographies is going to be right here: in this RIS format. (Rather than the Procite or the Zotero side of the conversion stream..)
2) But once I've got this sorted out, the next step is going to be finding the best way of integrating this bibliography into my website. (Which at the moment resides here: http://www.amsterdam-adorno.net/) With my limited knowledge I see two alternatives at the moment:
a) place the bibliography on zotero.org (or perhaps on my own website?) and then write some php-type scripts to access it. (I've been looking at the Web API documentation.)
b) As a second, much less attractive alternative, re-do this whole website of mine in WordPress, trying out Zotpress.
Any ideas on this would be most appreciated. (I'm a philosopher, with modest programming skills, but those API's look to me vaguely manageble..) I've been wondering where I should start looking for some code that has already implemented all this, that even a beginner like me could learn from. (Or alternately: that I could point to if I try to find someone who would do it for me.)
best,
fvg
http://librarian.newjackalmanac.ca/2012/09/how-to-load-zotero-into-webpage-with-3.html
but don't be deterred by the technical aspects. Once you look at the translator (I would recommend installing Scaffold for that purpose, at least if you're using Firefox), changing specific mappings is, for the most part, quite easy as they're explicitly listed at the top of the translator.