British Library Catalogue (primo)

jjcharlesworth
other sites working fine (google, amazon etc.) but British Library not working.
example page http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?ct=facet&fctN=facet_rtype&fctV=books&dscnt=1&vl(174399379UI0)=any&scp.scps=scope%3A(BLCONTENT)&frbg=&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1331657846221&srt=rank&ct=search&mode=Basic&dum=true&tb=t&indx=1&vl(freeText0)=Culture%20and%20consensus%20%3A%20England%2C%20art%20and%20politics%20since%201940&fn=search&vid=BLVU1
'unknown error' message, either for folder or book item download.
  • adamsmith
    works for me - are you using Standalone or Zotero for FF?
  • jjcharlesworth
    chrome plugin.
  • adamsmith
    It's possible that this doesn't work in Chrome, though it should.
    There are about two dozen translators that don't work in Chrome and Safari yet, so always report if you're using one of those.

    I'll try to have a look asap - in the meantime do make sure that your translators are up to date (general tab of the Zotero preferences). Primo didn't use to work with Chrome/Standalone at all - that issue was fixed a month ago or so.
  • jjcharlesworth
    OK. have tried in firefox and it works fine. so clearly a problem with chrome. will check my version of standalone.
    thanks
  • toni50
    Zotero in Safari environment does not work with the new British Library catalogue neither.
  • toni50
    edited March 16, 2012
    I am right now working in the British library catalogue in the Firefox environment and Zotero is not able to recognize items neither. It is really a shame that the catalogue of one of the most important library in the world does not work with Zotero!
  • adamsmith
    the catalog definitely works with Zotero in Firefox.
    You would have to close Zotero Standalone, though, otherwise Zotero in Firefox will just behave like the connectors in Chrome and Safari.
    If it doesn't work for you, that's a more specific problem. Run through these:
    http://www.zotero.org/support/troubleshooting_translator_issues
    also provide a sample URL.
  • clousley
    I am also having trouble with the British Library catalogue now. I am using zotero in Firefox 10.0.2. Here is a link that does not work:
    http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=BLL01007796235&indx=10&recIds=BLL01007796235&recIdxs=9&elementId=&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&dscnt=0&frbrVersion=2&vl%28174399379UI0%29=creator&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BLCONTENT%29&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1331916828162&gathStatTab=true&mode=Basic&vl%28715950869UI1%29=all_items&vl%28freeText0%29=World%20Commission%20on%20Environment%20and%20Development&vid=BLVU1
  • adamsmith
    @clousely - are you not getting a folder icon, or are you getting an error trying to save items? I can reproduce the latter and believe I'll be able to push out a fix for that later today.

    @toni50 - I understand you correctly that you're not seeing a folder icon at all, right? Not even in FF with Zotero standalone closed?
  • adamsmith
    OK - a fix is now out - your translator will update automatically within 24hs or you can update immediately from the general tab of the Zotero preferences. That definitely fixes clousely's issue (if I understood it correctly) - it should also make BL work in Chrome and Safari connectors - worked for me at least (Chrome).
    In general Primo data isn't great: e.g. you'll frequently get authors in single field mode. If you can use a non-primo catalog, you'll be better of and will have to do less fixing/checking of your Zotero data, but for general purposes the translator is fine - and I tried to improve/clean-up data quality as much as possible - the issue is the underlying metadata supplied by Primo.
  • clousley
    yes, my translator problem with the British Library has now been solved. Thank you for the quick attention!
  • megabert
    Hi, I'm having the same problem with the (also primo) library of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Followed steps above (BL works now, thanks!!) but VU still doesn't, e.g.:

    http://elibrary.vu.nl/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=all&dstmp=1332919472623&srt=rank&mode=Advanced&vl%281UIStartWith1%29=contains&indx=2&tb=t&vl%281UIStartWith3%29=contains&vl%28freeText0%29=heb*&vid=VU_V1&fn=search&vl%28freeText2%29=&vl%2819410183UI1%29=creator&title1=1&vl%2819410182UI0%29=title&frbg=&ct=search&vl%281UIStartWith2%29=contains&vl%28D12334442UI4%29=all_items&vl%28D12334440UI6%29=all_items&dum=true&vl%28freeText3%29=&vl%2819410185UI3%29=any&vl%281UIStartWith0%29=contains&vl%28D12334441UI5%29=all_items&vl%2819410184UI2%29=any&Submit=Search&vl%28freeText1%29=luther%2C+m


    Any chance of fixing this as well? Would change my life...

    Thanks in advance!
  • adamsmith
    we'll eventually fix this, but not very soon - the VU primo installation (and several others) don't display the metadata that we're using for the translators. We'll have to use an alternate format for the data (likely the RIS for export to endnote), which means re-coding large parts of the translator.
  • megabert
    Thanks for the quick response. I don't know much about these things, but until you fix it, would it make sense to ask the library people to change something? And is it possible to use the RIS format manually in the meantime?
  • adamsmith
    actually, I take that back - I'll be able to fix that soon. They have everything in place, just using slightly unusual xpaths, but we should be able to accommodate those easily. Allow a couple of weeks. Until then, yes - RIS will work pretty well.
  • adamsmith
    A revised Primo translator version is now up - it will auto-update within 24hs, or you can update immediately from the general tab of the Zotero preferences.
    I tested this successfully with the VU Amsterdam translator.
  • megabert
    Wow, that was quick!
    Okay, so from Safari/Zotero standalone I get the zotero button to save items but an error afterwards. With firefox I can save single books but it doesn't seem to pick up lists (no error here though).
    Anyway, I'm really happy this is moving forward so quickly, wonder what I'll do with all the time I save ;)
  • adamsmith
    can you give me a search that doesn't work in Firefox? - I'll have a look.
  • megabert
    e.g. this: (n.b. I'm only talking about the list function that doesn't work in firefox; in safari both list and single item mode don't work with this)

    http://elibrary.vu.nl/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=all&dstmp=1333354000925&srt=rank&mode=Advanced&vl%281UIStartWith1%29=contains&tb=t&indx=1&vl%281UIStartWith3%29=contains&vl%28freeText0%29=luther&vid=VU_V1&fn=search&vl%28freeText2%29=&vl%2819410183UI1%29=creator&vl%2819410182UI0%29=any&frbg=&ct=search&vl%28D12334442UI4%29=all_items&vl%281UIStartWith2%29=contains&vl%28D12334440UI6%29=all_items&dum=true&vl%28freeText3%29=&vl%2819410185UI3%29=any&vl%281UIStartWith0%29=contains&vl%28D12334441UI5%29=all_items&vl%2819410184UI2%29=any&Submit=Search&vl%28freeText1%29=
  • adamsmith
    OK, getting there - I'll have to test more before I put up a fix, but the issue are the two articles that don't contain links at the bottom of the page - we can't get those from the VU catalog.
    If you restrict the search to books this should work reliably.
    Even if we fix this, the articles will just not show up in the search results.
  • megabert
    Yes, if I restrict it to 'physical items' the list comes up. Then, if I want to save an item, under firefox it works, under safari I get the error 'Saving Item ... an error occurred, see 'known translator issues', etc.'
  • sandersls
    Hi, I can't get zotero to save references in the British Library catalogue. I've read this thread, having recently updated to Zotero 3.0 plus the plug-in for Chrome, have run the updates out of preferences, have check the plug-in in my browser, and still can't save references under the file or book icon (which do appear). I am having the same problem with the Courtauld Institute Book Library catalogue as well. These are two of my main libraries, so any help would be appreciated.

    http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?ct=facet&fctN=facet_creator&fctV=Descartes%2c+Rene%2c+1596-1650&dscnt=1&vl(174399379UI0)=any&scp.scps=scope%3A(BLCONTENT)&frbg=&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1333473196618&srt=rank&ct=search&mode=Basic&dum=true&tb=t&indx=1&vl(freeText0)=descartes&fn=search&vid=BLVU1

    http://library.kcl.ac.uk/F/Q797QBBTP7UTPJC2F4PSQIQ32TXJV4R9A2VM9HE9TY2P8HC9IG-43873?func=full-set-set&set_number=019697&set_entry=000002&format=999
  • adamsmith
    They both work with Zotero for Firefox. I can see what I can do for connectors, I thought Primo should work, I don't know why it doesn't. I don't think anyone has worked on connector compatibility for Aleph (for the Courtauld Institute)
  • adamsmith
    I can't replicate the VU issue with connectors - they work on Chrome, I don't have Safari to test.
    The BL issue is actually unrelated to connectors - I'll have a fix out soon (the problem is gibberish in the date field of the catalog record which chokes the translator).
    The KCL issue will take a significant time to fix, I currently don't quite understand what doesn't work. If you really need Zotero to work, consider using FF.
  • adamsmith
    actually - after updating your translators KCL should work now, ended up being a minor issue.
  • megabert
    Okay, I'll just see if this gets better with future versions of the safari connectors. However, the list-issue with VU persists even on Firefox. ANyway, thanks for all the help.
  • adamsmith
    A new translator version is up - update from the general tab of the Zotero preferences or wait ~24hs for automatic update. The BL issue for Descartes should be fixed. The VL should now work consistently regardless of search settings. There is a small chance VL will also work in Safari - let us know.

    (As a general note - you'll want to check your authors when importing from Primo in general and from VU's version in particular - authors will more often than not be in single-field mode (you'll want to manually switch that to two-fields) and sometimes have stray characters - mostly parentheses.
  • megabert
    Firefox works great with lists at VU now (this is fantastic!!), Safari displays the list but then produces an error when trying to import.
    Thanks!!
  • adamsmith
    out of curiousity - do other Primo version work for you in Safari? E.g. the British library links above?
    I'm a little puzzled what's not working.
  • megabert
    I can't open the above one (because I don't have an account with them?) but did this search and it worked under Safari.

    http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&vl(174399379UI0)=any&frbg=&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BLWEBSITE%29&tab=website_tab&dstmp=1333607019544&srt=rank&ct=search&mode=Basic&dum=true&tb=t&indx=1&vl(freeText0)=cunningham&vid=BLVU1&fn=search
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