Upgrade StorageField for Spatial Data
I'm working on a web map that uses the Zotero API to place citations on a map: http://micheletobias.github.io/maps/LiteratureMap Currently, I have the location information in the Extra field in the form of a geoJSON geometry string, but that means I have to remove any other information in the Extra field. At some point, would it be possible to add a Geometry or SpatialData field? I tried adding it to my personal database but then I couldn't open it in my desktop Zotero program.
(That's what we do for things like PMID that we currently add to the Extra field).
LitMap looks promising and the addition of a geospatial field would certainly help keep geodata organized and untangled with other forms of data that might be in the Extras field. On the LitMap end, it would be great to see not only point data handled, but also line and polygon data. Integration with ArcGIS and Google Earth would be incredibly helpful.
For Zotero, further development of Zotero Maps would be great as the incorporation of a map within the Zotero interface would give users a unique way access their bibliographic data, ie on a map rather than a standard list. When you're dealing with lots of documents that have a specific geographic focus, this means of visualizing your library would really streamline your work flow. Another handy feature would be the ability to access your documents through the map interface by way of a pop-up balloon with a hyperlink to the document, so that you could open it by interacting with the map.
Geospatial development would be ideal for people in the sciences and resource management industries, such as biological or archaeological resources, where documentation is often strongly linked to specific geographic areas- such as the territory of a specific animal species under study, or the distribution of archaeological sites within a particular city, state, or region. The same is true of the construction industry, where documentation is typically confined to a specific project area. I'm sure there are many other industries or research fields that would benefit immensely from the ability to visualize a library on a map, to be able to click on a geographic area and see all the documents that pertain to it. For a large number of people this functionality would allow much better access to documents stored in Zotero than the current database style list does.
I definitely hope we see some movement forward in this direction and I appreciate the efforts made so far.
QGIS has a plugin to load and make SQL query on SQLITE database. I have been able throught that plugin, to get a table with my extra field for one particular reference. I have to work on it but I should be able to extract x and y data from the extra field and map it.
The table structure in the zotero database make it difficult. Extra field is fieldID 22, but contains only a value ID which refer to another table where the real value is stored. So, to have a complete list of the extra field, the query as to:
- for each element in the database, get the valueID of the fieldID 22.
- for each valueID, get the real value contained.
- Split the x and y value
- map it.
2 first operation has to go through SQL query and, for now, it goes over my capacities. I'll update if I get farther into the problem.