Upgrade StorageStandalone Notes Linking?
Hi,
I'm new to Zotero and am excited about the possibilities of it.
What I REALLY want is a tool that will provide traceability from the thoughts in my writing and outlining to the notes I take from references, and from those notes to the references themselves. To do this effectively, I feel like I need to be able to do this from a top down or bottom up approach. In other words, I want to be able to write ideas on 'standalone' notes and eventually link them up to one or more notes that are associated with a specific reference. OR, I might take notes from references directly and then eventually synthesize my own ideas on standalone notes.
It seems like Zotero is a great way to go from references to notes, but I can't find a way to link together different notes without references.
Does anyone know if there is a way to link the "standalone" notes to each other? Or, can a standalone note have a child note? I think this would do the trick.
I'm new to Zotero and am excited about the possibilities of it.
What I REALLY want is a tool that will provide traceability from the thoughts in my writing and outlining to the notes I take from references, and from those notes to the references themselves. To do this effectively, I feel like I need to be able to do this from a top down or bottom up approach. In other words, I want to be able to write ideas on 'standalone' notes and eventually link them up to one or more notes that are associated with a specific reference. OR, I might take notes from references directly and then eventually synthesize my own ideas on standalone notes.
It seems like Zotero is a great way to go from references to notes, but I can't find a way to link together different notes without references.
Does anyone know if there is a way to link the "standalone" notes to each other? Or, can a standalone note have a child note? I think this would do the trick.
I've asked for something similar (http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/6962/links-between-notes-and-to-notes-from-outside-of-zotero/), but it appears to be something current Zotero users are a bit indifferent to. Which is odd to me, as hyperlinking seems to me the Sine qua non of computer text.
No-one's said "no", but I wouldn't hold your breath. For now I use Onenote, and link from zotero to there (which only half works). Unfortunately it isn't possible to link in the other direction.
I say this because I see that Zotero is getting close to the precipice of this common tendency. Not that Zotero is becoming bloated already. But I have seen many people asking for features that would allow them to keep all their personal notes and scraps of information in Zotero. I feel this would be a mistake. Zotero does one thing and it does it very well. It keeps track of actual reference material and the citation information associated with that. I feel it would lead the developers down an unfortunate path if they tried to make Zotero into a be-all-end-all information storage product.
There are many good, general-purpose note-taking programs out there. I use Microsoft OneNote on Windows. It is an outlining program with additional features such as handwriting recognition so I can take my notes directly on the screen of my Tablet PC and search for them later. OneNote does allow linking between individual notes. It allows me to store documents directly on the page and I can even paste pictures that include text and it will recognize that text and allow me to search for it later. It is certainly not perfect and I am definitely no fan of Bill Gates and OneNote also has several quirks that drive me crazy, but it is the best outlining program I have found for my needs. I am sure there must be others for other platforms. While it is really expensive at retail, I can buy it at my college bookstore for about $19 and others may be able to find an equally good deal.
I tried figuring out a way to create shortcuts between OneNote and Zotero and found that the linking features in OneNote are not as robust as I would like. So I just figured out a work-around that is probably more reliable and can be easily understood by anyone who looks at my OneNote notes. I simply paste a citation from Zotero into each OneNote page where I take notes about a particular article or book. As I take my notes, I simply put the page numbers in parentheses to keep track of exactly what page the note refers to. Now, if I want to find that article in Zotero I simply copy some of the text from the citation and paste it into the search bar in Zotero. It is only one step short of a direct link to the citation.
One of the big benefits of using an outlining program such as OneNote over a database-type program such as Zotero for notes is that all my notes on a topic are together on one long page. I can print that page out and hand it to someone else and it even has the citation info with it because of my work-around above. I can print the pages to .PDF as well. Database-type programs that have note fields - regardless of how feature rich in their formatting capabilities - always treat all the notes as individual entities. You have to dig around for each note: click the collection, click the reference item to expand it, click the individual note to expand it, then you can see what it says. In outlining programs all you have to do is scan down the page to see what you wrote. Database-type programs such as Zotero often do not allow you to rearrange notes in any order you like. They may allow you to sort them but completely manual arrangement is rarely offered. Outline programs let you put notes wherever you like.
In the end, I feel it is best not to attempt to force one program to be your be-all-end-all data storage solution. Especially one that was not designed for that from the ground up. It is better to combine multiple tools and get the best of breed for each major function of your work. Zotero is definitely the best at keeping track of citation information. However, it is not a note-taking program and I feel it is a mistake to attempt to make it into one. By making use of Zotero's drag and drop citation pasting feature, and its quick search feature, it is easy to use Zotero along with any good note-taking program you may choose.
Generally I agree with you - and I think so do the Zt developers who are, after all, academics.
However, it seems eminently reasonable to link notes to stored citation data and improve that particular feature of Zotero (which I'm actually not using beyond simple child notes).
It's something that you see requested a lot from researchers - so the precise users for which Zt. is intended.
Point taken. I was not addressing this particular feature request as much as the general trend I have been seeing in the forums.
At some point in the future I will write up my super handy system for doing research and post it on my - yet to be created - personal blog. It involves Zotero, OneNote, Adobe Acrobat, an IrisPen pen scanner, and a Logitech G11 gaming keyboard. Perhaps others will find it helpful.
Hyperlinks (in all directions) are a special case, though, and I think for principled reasons, (not only personal predeliction). Firstly, they're the essence of text on the web. Secondly, they are one of the most useful ways of getting apps to work with each other. Wouldn't you like to be able to link to zotero items from Onenote?
I'd be interested in a post on your method of combining, should you get around writing it.