Keep local storage in place even if online storage is implemented

Lots of users have been requesting some form of online storage with Zotero, and I agree that the ability to access your reference database from anywhere over the web would be a great addition to Zotero's already impressive set of features.

Some have even been arguing that it would be good to make Zotero a fully webbased tool (e.g. Scott Mclemee in his widely advertised review). I want to argue against that.

The fact that Zotero stores stuff locally has some great advantages, chief among them being that it you can access your stuff while offline. This is not trivial, and the possibility of being offline tends to be forgotten in this digital age. But say I'm going on a fieldtrip to a location where I don't have internet - I'd surely want to take my Zotero dbase with me! More to the point, think of educational institutions in countries which don't have regular access to the internet. Right now, I can provide my peers there with a Zotero database (including a PDF library) which will work perfectly even when there is no internet connection. They can make use of Zotero's notetaking, tagging, and organizing capabilities and they can use it with their word processor. If Zotero was webbased (like CiteUlike) al these possibilities would disappear, and Zotero would all of a sudden become a tool for the happy few on this side of the digital divide.

In short, I don't even know if there are plans to make Zotero fully webbased — but I just wanted to register my vote against it.
  • I think it's fair to say that if the Zotero team didn't agree with you, they'd not have spent as much effort as they have on the local client. Local and web-based each have advantages and disadvantages. The two together is ideal.
  • Can I vote to have an open source web based implementation please! So that I can run my own zotero server or get my institution to.

    I think the most challenging aspect of multi-user (web based) zotero from a usability perspective is the management of duplicate entries, and the more eyeballs on that, the better.
  • I agree that is very important for me to access also when i am offline.
    But i need something like foxmark to sync between different pcs...
    if i am at work or at home with different computers i need to sync the zotero file like i do with foxmark.

    (also a web app could be very usefull in the case in which i am not with my notebook)
  • But i need something like foxmark to sync between different pcs...
    if i am at work or at home with different computers i need to sync the zotero file like i do with foxmark.
    http://www.zotero.org/documentation/development_roadmap
  • edited April 29, 2008
    Thanks for your patience. We're currently testing our backup and syncing functionality and plan to make it available soon, as indicated in the development roadmap linked above.
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