Record Numbers

I'm trying to move from Procite to Zotero after my trusty old Procite 5 copy has finally been rendered useless by new word processor technology (MS Word 2007).

I just imported 500 records from my reprint database using the RIS style mentioned in this thread (http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/1429/). It generally seemed to work, except that record numbers were only transferred as a note. My entire reprint collection (thousands of papers, mostly, in a filing cabinet) is organized around record numbers, and it's important that I be able to do things like sort via record numbers, automatically assign record numbers to new records, and ideally see record numbers from the list of records without extra clicks. I don't even see a spot for record numbers in Zotero's fields, so I'm wondering if this program will even work for me..? Any advice is welcome.

Thanks,
Justin
  • Well, that's disappointing. This is not an uncommon way that folks in my field (biology) organize their reprint databases, and it seems to have been dismissed by those involved in this project. I could probably use the "+" field for this purpose moving forward, but that'll be a pain without automatic fill-ins for new record numbers. And, of course, it wouldn't be something I could do with my old database without some serious adjustments. I'm really not sure that there's a viable time-efficient alternative to tracking record numbers when dealing with something as unruly as a reprint collection. Besides, I've been doing this far too long and my database is far too big to change my system now.

    Any suggestions on reference software that would better suit my needs? I'd really rather avoid spending $250 on Endnote--and I like to support open source software initiatives--but if I have to do it, that's what I have to do...
    -Justin
  • That first thread, 2909, is an unrelated issue: custom ordering of items. Assigning an arbitrary (user-accessible) number to a record hasn't been as widely discussed.

    However, along with 3406:

    • 1024 suggests using the Call Number field

    • 1059 notes that this would probably be addressed if we added support for custom citation keys

    • 1149 discusses a few more possibilities, including the possibility that call number functionality might be extended to allow for multiple "locations" (one of which could be your own personal library)
    And, finally, support for custom item types and custom fields, which would allow this, will likely come eventually. To do that well, though, some exceptionally sticky issues have to be worked out first.

    Of course, there's nothing stopping you from manually assigning record numbers using another existing field—ideally one that can be added to the middle pane such as Call Number, Language, or Rights.

    Automatic numbering is tricky, though. Zotero itself assigns unique numbers to each item in the database, which theoretically could be displayed to the user—including, quite easily, via a Zotero plugin—but as the Zotero client becomes more and more just a single piece in a more sophisticated larger system, those numbers become less reliable and flexible. This is apparent even with the sync support in the 1.5 Sync Preview: since you can create items on multiple computers and sync them together, you might create items with the same id on each side, and so during the sync process the local id is automatically changed if there's an existing item with the same id in your library on the server. If you already numbered a printed copy and stuck it in a drawer before syncing, that's a problem. These and other issues are part of the reason it's not as straightforward an issue as it might seem.

    (The "+" field, by the way, isn't a real field—it's the number of child items an attachment has.)
  • I do appreciate that there are complications that go with this adjustment, particularly with respect to synching. But I'd think that some kind of convention--even just reserving a set of record numbers for each location--could probably defeat the problem. I don't care if the numbers are continuous, just that they're unique.

    Anyway, thanks for your response. I think at this point, Zotero is going to be too difficult to move to given my current system. I will keep it in mind in the future, though. Depending on the export functionality (which I understand is limited, though I need to investigate it more), it might work well as a temporary repository of information as I pull articles off the web, which then would get transferred into my primary bibliographic program (which looks like it will be endnote...biblioscape's word functionality is too clunky for me, and some of the other attractive options are Mac-only).

    Cheers,
    Justin
  • If your real concern is with being able to generate unique numbers for items, perhaps this site would help: http://www.famkruithof.net/uuid/uuidgen

    That site lets you generate UUIDs, or Universally Unique IDentifiers. For more information, see: http://www.famkruithof.net/guid-uuid-info.html

    You could generate UUIDs with that site, and then copy them into one of the fields Dan mentioned, such as Call Number, Language, or Rights - any of the fields that can be displayed in the middle pane of Zotero.

    I think that would allow you to do the things you say you would like to do, such as sort via record numbers and see record numbers from the list of records without extra clicks. Essentially, the idea is that you would co-opt one of the existing fields (one that you otherwise would not use) to serve as the "record number" field.

    There are other ways of generating UUIDs, I just mentioned the online generator since it seems it would be easy to have that sitting open in a Firefox tab, to use while you are adding papers to Zotero.

    If you wanted to develop the approach further, you could probably find a way to turn the UUIDs into barcode-type labels to affix to the physical item in one way or another. Then you could use a barcode scanner to scan the UUID into the Zotero search field when you want to locate the Zotero reference for the item. All of that is a bit beyond my own personal level of organization at present, I must admit, but it seems like a system that could work.

    I don't know that this helps you with importing your current collection. Maybe if you wanted to move your existing record numbers from the Notes to the field of your choice, maybe it would be possible to do that en masse with a SQLite browser/editor.
  • Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to think about it. I need to write the number on each paper (getting a label printer might work, but that's probably too much effort for something that has always been very simple), so I can't use the entire number that page generates. But perhaps the first eight digits would work for me, as those seem unlikely to repeat given the number of records I'm working with here (~4000 reprints). Nevertheless, flipping over to that tab still adds an extra step, and the key to me keeping my references updated and current is to make things as streamlined as possible. Of course, streamlining the rest of data entry is what Zotero seems to do best, so maybe that offsets this "problem."

    I don't really mind moving to a new numbering scheme as I change software, as long as I can import my old data. But I really do need there to be a numbering system for new non-electronic papers. Alphabetizing by author and year is too slow and prone to error, and organizing by topics is way too much work. I just want to write a 4-8 digit number at the top of a page, drop it into my filing cabinet, and then quickly be able to find it again a year or two later when I find it in a search of my database.
    -j
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