numbering articles

nkanagat21

Hi,

My colleague and I want to split the articles in our zotero library so we can review our share of the literature.

We think numbering the articles in our Zotero library will make this easier because I can do all the odds and she can do the evens.

Can I number the articles in Zotero? Is there an automatic way to do this?

If not, how else have people labeled their articles to enable task sharing between team members?

Thanks!

aurimas

You can't number the articles, but it should be quite easy to assign tags (say, half articles get tag A and the other half gets tag B). To assign tags to multiple items, drag and drop selected items to the tag in the tag pane (bottom left). You can also use keyboard shortcuts with colored tags, which would probably be even better in your case.

(you could also subdivide the articles into separate (sub)collections)

nkanagat21

Thank you for the helpful tip.

The other reason numbers would be good is for quick reference.

Example, I read three articles, 2 are by the same author. I pass these on to my colleagues to read. If they want to refer to one of the articles by an author it would be easier for them to say article number 1 as opposed to article A by the author X titled Y. I still think numbering will allow for the next level of literature management when working in large teams.

adamsmith

I don't think so and I doubt it's going to happen-- linear numbering is just such a mess when you delete items, merge duplicates, merge libraries by syncing, work together in a group where everyone has their own numbering...

One of the nice things about using a reference manager is that just sending a full citation is no more work than looking up a corresponding number: you just drag&drop from Zotero. As an added benefit, your correspondent knows immediately what you mean and doesn't have to check the numbering in Zotero.

nkanagat21

You make a good point about deleting, merging and group work. Good to know it's unlikely to happen for these reasons.

Thanks!

aurimas

Unless you want to convey the information non-electronically, a better alternative would be to send a link to the Zotero item. This doesn't currently work very well, but I can see this being developed further. The link could either be directly to a page on zotero.org (you can do this already manually, but this makes it easier) or would show the item in the local application (this works only with personal libraries locally, and [probably] does not work well with shared group libraries)

nkanagat21

I work in mid - size research teams with levels of reporting and management which is why I emphasize the ease of verbally conveying something along the lines of "articles 1, 7 and 90 say X while articles 2, 43 and 61 say Y and articles 5 - 25 are a new category".

But thanks for your suggestion aurimas. I'll look into it. I work primarily with shared group libraries.

aurimas

Hmmm, I can see the issue, but, unfortunately, I cannot offer a convenient solution. Like adamsmith, I do not see numbering getting introduced into Zotero. There are plans for the future to add custom fields, which you could then utilize as you see fit. Currently, you could use another field for the same purpose. "Extra" might work ok and can be displayed in the center pane for easier lookup, but it is sometimes used for additional data, like PMIDs. If you do decide to use it, I would suggest entering the numbers on the first line in the Extra field and moving all other metadata (that may already exist there) to subsequent lines. You would have to manually number the items though, so it sounds like a big PITA to me.

nkanagat21

It is a major PITA. I like the suggestion about the "extra" field. What do you think about adding the numbers to the article title itself?

adamsmith

that'd break citations -- would be a dealbreaker for me, but if it's OK for you, sure.

aurimas

That would not be compatible with citing articles in a word processor (or via quick copy), but if you don't need to worry about that, you can do whatever you want with the metadata.

nkanagat21

Got it. Thanks both, for such a quick and in-depth discussion. It's helped me think through this process some more. Been a loyal Zotero-ite since 2009.