Merge creator fields

I'd like Zotero to be able to merge creator fields when merging items, especially in the case where each item has part of the full list of creators (e.g. for a book section, one item has the editors, and the other has the chapter author). I know this seems very unlikely but I have run into it a surprising number of times.

@adamsmith wrote in a previous comment "That's correct -- you can't merge creator fields. I believe because it's too complicated GUI-wise to get that right."
https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/290192/#Comment_290192

I have a suggestion. Can't the merge selector list all creators in both items, and have a pull-down arrow just like the other fields, but in the pull-down selector just have for each creator the info on one row and a blank on the other row? It would work essentially like an 'include/exclude' button, but using the same GUI elements as the other fields.

Is this possible for a future update?
  • Hi, this comment got no feedback. I would really like this implemented. I know it's not a priority item, but do the developers think this is a strategy that would not be too complicated GUI-wise? @adamsmith maybe?
  • I don't make GUI calls, but given the lack of interest by other people, I'd be surprised if this were to happen. The downside of your solution, e.g., is that people merging "blindly/quickly" (and many do) will get duplicated authors.

    I'm sure if this were a major need, it'd be possible to implement a somehow acceptable solution (so the point of the above is just to illustrate that this isn't simple, not to engage in a discussion about how to implement this in detail), but "too complicated GUI-wise" also refers to the relationship between demand/complexity. I believe you're the second person to ever bring this up.
  • Hi, this feature would be very helpful for me, too. In my field (law) the automated entries from the Zotero finder frequently do not add editors and other info for book sections. The easiest way to get a proper entry is, therefore (I think), to get the information of both the, book and its section, and merge both in Zotero. This requires lots of manual work, as either editors or authors are disappearing in the automated process.

    If there are any better workflows for book chapters, I would love to hear about them!
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