Proquest errors in v. 5.0.8

dsr20901
After updating to the latest version Zotero no longer detects the document type (e.g., newspaper) in Proquest. All Proquest items are shown as "web pages" and PDF attachments are not being saved when items are created. This occurs in Chrome and Safari. Any ideas for a workaround until fixed?
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  • bwiernik
    Does the browser connector work for you on other sites (e.g., a journal page)? If not, that suggests an issue with your installation that we should try to troubleshoot.

    If you only have issues with ProQuest, this usually happens because the site (ProQuest) has made a change to their code that breaks the Zotero translator. In that case, the translator will need to be updated. In the mean time, you can use ProQuest's interface to export a reference (e.g., to BibTeX format), then import that into Zotero. You'll have to manually
  • dsr20901
    Thanks for the workaround suggestion. Yes, the browser connector works with JSTOR. That was the first thing I checked ....
  • bwiernik
    Within ProQuest, is the connector not working for all databases (e.g., Dissertations) or only the newspaper database (which one)?
  • adamsmith
    Could we also get a URL exactly as you see it as well as the permalink provided by pro quest?
  • dsr20901
    Yes, the behavior occurs on other Proquest databases. Here's a link to one of the articles I tried to save earlier: https://search-proquest-com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/docview/152576426?accountid=46320
  • bwiernik
    Can you also post the ProQuest permalink to that page?
  • dsr20901
    @bwiernik I thought that I did earlier: https://search-proquest-com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/docview/152576426?accountid=46320
  • bwiernik
    No, that is the URL going through your university proxy. We can’t follow that link (it just takes us to your university login page). There should be a link on the ProQuest page labeled something like “permalink” or “stable link”.
  • dsr20901
    @bwiernik Sorry, that's the only URL returned when a document is selected.
  • dsr20901
    Another one: Zotero recognized Montgomery County (MD) public library catalog entries as "books" prior to latest release; now they're "web pages." Link from last search: https://mdpl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/catalog/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:161089/one?qu=Saint+John+the+Evangelist:+The+History+of+the+Parish+1774-1984
  • ipersoff
    The last few days I have had exactly the same problem as dsr20901. Proquest is not loading metadata into Zotero. I am so frustrated because I really need this info. But if you click "Item Type" in the Info section on the right side of your Zotero, a long list of types comes up. And if you click "Journal", then bib items you need appears in blank and you can fill in date, volume, issue, etc. yourself. I hope Zotero will clear this problem soon!!!!
  • dstillman
    @dsr20901:

    Neither of these are due to 5.0.

    For the ProQuest one, you're on the PDF page. We should be able to make that work, but just switch to the Details page, which is recognized and saves for me.
    Zotero recognized Montgomery County (MD) public library catalog entries as "books" prior to latest release; now they're "web pages."
    That page isn't recognized in Zotero 4.0 either. Most likely the site changed.

    @ipersoff:
    Proquest is not loading metadata into Zotero. I am so frustrated because I really need this info.
    We'd need an example URL — as I say, it's working for me on the Details page of the ProQuest example above — but on any library catalog where Zotero isn't working, you can export to RIS or BibTeX and then import that file into Zotero, though the quality of the metadata might be slightly worse. (You should still report here, though, so we can look into why the translator's not working.)
  • ipersoff
    It is not working in the details page, even when I logged into my university library. There is an exclamation sign symbol in Zotero which says there is a conflict for automatic sync. So then I clicked the sync symbol and three versions of an article I downloaded months ago appear (an article which happens to be in a different folder on my Zotero). Also, if I am in the university library site, and I click an item I put into Zotero this weekend, Proquest is blank. It does not pull it up at all (I clicked to get a journal article that Zotero labeled as a web page). The only thing that will come up is if I had put a PDF into Zotero this weekend and as I said above, I enter the metadata manually and reset it as a journal article. Zotero will pull this up. I checked older items that went into Zotero properly and they are fine. So clearly, this is something very recent. Please find out why Proquest is not syncing with Zotero. It is duplicitous to pick up a citation in BibTex or something else, and then download it into Zotero (and I don't even know how to do this because I only have used Zotero for the three years I have been working on my doctorate). My concern is that I have so much loaded in Zotero and I have my comprehensive exams coming and I am absolutely in need of having all this literature at my disposal. I am not using Zotero for free; I have paid to have extra space, and I would like to know if this will be rectified. Thanks!!!
  • dstillman
    There is an exclamation sign symbol in Zotero which says there is a conflict for automatic sync.
    This is unrelated. You just need to resolve the conflict.

    If it's not working on the details page, again, we need an example URL. And obviously we'll fix this — the RIS/BibTeX solution is just a temporary workaround so you can keep working.
  • ilpcpa
    Dan, so sorry for my own confusion. Apparently I have two Zotero accounts from my original setup in 2013 and here I used the wrong one. I wrote to you recently about installing 5.0 and not having a "Z". Anyway, I was able to get the proper metadata from Proquest from the "Details/Abstract" page of the desired item. It does not show up in the Zotero library with a PDF icon, but when I closed the university library and clicked the blue icon in Zotero for that item, the PDF did come up. Thank you for all your attention to these matters. It is too bad that Zotero is having to change to a more complicated situation when it was just so easy and beautiful in 4.0! But I do understand why....
  • ilpcpa
    Addendum: I am "ipersoff" in the post above
  • dstillman
    edited August 8, 2017
    when I closed the university library and clicked the blue icon in Zotero for that item, the PDF did come up
    I'm not totally sure what you mean here. This should work entirely like in 4.0 — if you're on ProQuest, Zotero should save a journal article and (if you have access) an attached PDF. If you're seeing a blue web page icon, it didn't save correctly, and we'd want to see an example URL if you can reproduce that.
  • ilpcpa
    It came from my university library to which you would need a login. If the icon is white, I can double-click, or I can right-click and select "View as PDF". If the icon is blue, it won't even take me to the library page. That one I did not save from the "details" page. I saved it from the interface on which I viewed the actual document. In 4.0, you could be viewing the pdf in the library format and just click the Z, and it would come in as PDF with all the metadata. So, now, 5.0 is not the same as 4.0.
  • dstillman
    It came from my university library to which you would need a login
    We still need an example URL. You can x out any identifying information, but we can't help you without an example URL.

    Beyond that, I think you're misunderstanding this. What you already have in Zotero is irrelevant — all that matters is what you can save currently. So if something isn't currently saving correctly, we need an example URL to debug that.
  • dstillman
    Another report of this: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/67001/problems-with-zotero-download-from-proquest-historical-newspapers-in-firefox-and-safari

    As I say there, I'm not sure if this was a recent change on ProQuest or a change in Zotero, but we should be able to fix it. In the meantime, it works fine for me from the details page, just not the PDF page.
  • MichaelGlass14
    The Proquest Historical Newspapers works fine for me if I just click on the "Abstract/Details" tab instead of the "Full text-PDF." How odd.

    Thank you so much for the help!
  • dstillman
    It's possible that ProQuest changed the order of the tabs and made the PDF view the default. In any case, should be an easy fix.
  • dstillman
    Order aside, it looks we used to support the PDF views but they changed the structure of those pages. Issue created.
  • aelkins
    I'm experiencing a similar issue. When I'm on the page of the individual newspaper article, my Zotero Connector in Google Chrome allows me to grab the "web page" but not the article with PDF. But when I'm on the results page with multiple newspaper articles, the Zotero Connector icon changes to the small yellow folder, which allows me to save the individual articles with the PDFs. The change has taken place over the past few days. I updated Zotero today. (Sorry, I'd post the permalink, but I can't find it on the page.)
  • dstillman
    When I'm on the page of the individual newspaper article
    Are you trying on the PDF page, or the Abstract/Details page? As I say above, this doesn't currently work on the PDF view because of a ProQuest site change, but as far as we know it works from the details view.
  • aelkins
    When I try on the Abstract/Details page, I can grab the PDF using Zotero Connector. But I cannot grab the PDF from the PDF page.
  • dstillman
    edited August 10, 2017
    Right — this is a known issue, as I say above. You just have to switch to the Abstract/Details page before saving for now.
  • tomfjackson
    Neither works for me in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers using Firefox. It used to download quickly and seamlessly. Very frustrating. Anyone have any recommendations??
  • adamsmith
    The issue above has been fixed. We'd need the full set of troubleshooting steps -- permalink, URL exactly as you see it, browser, connector, and Zotero version, and the exact description of what's happening when you're trying to save.
  • tomfjackson
    edited October 2, 2017
    Firefox Zotero extension, version 4.0.29.22

    Is this something that requires that I upgrade to 5.0 stand alone?

    Next to the Z button I usually got a symbol that designated recognition of the pdf attachment or article. Now all I see is the Web Page symbol. Almost none of the metadata downloads anymore either.
    Thanks, Tom
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