Merge Function Loses Data

WarthogARJ
Merge seems to lose data from a field.
Duplicate 1: has an attached file and nothing in Abstract
Duplicate 2: no attached file but data in Abstract

When you Merge and select (1) as the Master you lose the Abstract information.
Why is that?
I would have thought Merge should add info from vacant fields into the Master record.

I've also found it loses tags: only the Master record tags are kept.

The other issue is that sometimes a journal paper can have a Part 1 and Part 2. But this might only be mentioned at the end of the title.
Like:
ZZZZXXXXXXX^^^^&&&&*RRRTTT Part 1
ZZZZXXXXXXX^^^^&&&&*RRRTTT Part 2

But Zotero does not always show all the letters of a title due to filename restriction perhaps in the Duplicates function.
So it THINKS that there ARE duplicates: Part 1 and 2.

So you can do a Merge and LOSE data.

Same thing with Patents.
Zotero gives most Patents a short title: without the Patent number.
And yet they are SEPARATE records.
If you do a Merge then you lose data.


I have quite a few duplicates and am trying to sort them out using Merge.
  • adamsmith

    When you Merge and select (1) as the Master you lose the Abstract information.
    Why is that?
    because "merge" just starts out with the master document. There may be good reasons you want a field _not_ filled, out, e.g. if it's filled with garbage. You can toggle individual fields during merge by clicking on the "Merge" icon to the right of that field.
    I've also found it loses tags: only the Master record tags are kept.
    that's incorrect. Tags, notes, and attachments are combined.
    And yet they are SEPARATE records.
    If you do a Merge then you lose data.
    yup, auto duplicate detection isn't perfect. You need to check before merging. While it may be possible to improve some details, that's always going to be the case. E.g. for patents, a patent number may be written differently, even for the same patent etc.
  • WarthogARJ
    Adam,
    OK thanks: I didn't know that you could toggle fields on and off.
    And I did think I'd seen that I'd lost tags: but I'll do a test and report back if not the case.
    But I'm sure I'm mistaken though if you say so.

    Maybe I'm just expecting too much from it.
    Actually I'd really like to be able to do a custom Merge: that would be great.

    But I think Zotero is PHANTASTIK.
    I use it as my main database to store EVERYTHING.
    Whenever I get a new paper or reference: whack it goes into Zotero.

    Is a great help to find and organize my data.

    Thanks,
    Alan
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