Standardizing date format in Zotero library for import into NVivo

ncn6

Hi all -- I'm looking for some advice on whether it's possible to manipulate some of the metadata in a Zotero library to make my life easier when I import the library into NVivo.

Background: I have a library of ~500 items that I plan on importing into NVivo for qualitative data analysis, and I would like to do some analysis of change over time in this data set. I need good metadata on publication dates to do this, but when I import the library into NVivo in RIS format, the metadata is all converted into text fields. This means that I end up with a mess in my publication date field since the dates are in various formats (eg. Sept 12, 2016; 09/12/16; 09 12; etc).

The text field can't be converted to a date field in NVivo, so I'm hoping that there's something I can do on the Zotero end. Is it possible to standardize the date format within a Zotero library, so that when I export the library/import into NVivo I at least have standardized text to work with?

Thanks in advance for saving me from manually re-entering these dates!

Nicole

adamsmith

This is odd -- Zotero's date export to RIS should be standardized to YYYY/MM/DD and is for me. Which version of Zotero are you exporting from?

And this is the regular issued date, yes?

ncn6

Huh -- I'm entirely unsure what I was doing before, but now I see none of the mess I was seeing before in NVivo, and I can't even recreate the problem. Thanks, and sorry for not metaphorically jiggling the cable before posting!

Nicole