Upgrade StoragePDF/metadata basic functionality questions
Hi, I'm trying out Zotero and hoping to replace Papers3 (which has multiple issues as currently implemented).
I have reviewed all the documentation and screencasts of basic Zotero functionality. There's a few things that seem like they should be obvious that I'm having trouble figuring out. I'm using the Firefox extension version on a Mac.
Some of this stems from importing my Papers3 library into Zotero. This library has just shy of 1800 entries, some of which have incorrect or incomplete metadata, or entries with metadata but no PDF, etc. I work almost exclusively with journal articles, so my goals are to have accurate, complete metadata together with the PDF of the main article, and the ability to add supplemental data to the entry easily. (ALL papers in bio sciences currently put ≥ 50% of data as online supplements.)
1)If an entry in my library has incomplete or partially incorrect metadata, how do I tell Zotero to rematch the metadata to a database and fix it? In addition to problems in my current library that need fixing, it's very common for me to import an entry when it's still just an E-pub -- later I need to update the meta data for the actual print publication so it gets cited correctly in bibliographies.
2)If I have an entry with metadata but no PDF (for example I import from Pubmed), how do I add a PDF to it directly from the browser? From what I can tell so far, I seem to have to download the file and then drag it into the entry in the Zotero list. Is there a way to just click the download link in the webpage for the entry and have it automatically add it as an attachment? This applies for supplements too, obviously. Papers3 has very good functionality for this (despite its several other major problems).
3) What about updating the PDF for an entry to a new version. For example, I download the "online first" version of a paper, typically in manuscript form, and later want to update to the much easier to read print-article version that comes out a few weeks later. Do I have to do all this manually (download the new new PDF, manually drag it into Zotero, delete the old one)? Papers3 one-click functionality for this will be sorely missed if so.
Thanks for any help!
I have reviewed all the documentation and screencasts of basic Zotero functionality. There's a few things that seem like they should be obvious that I'm having trouble figuring out. I'm using the Firefox extension version on a Mac.
Some of this stems from importing my Papers3 library into Zotero. This library has just shy of 1800 entries, some of which have incorrect or incomplete metadata, or entries with metadata but no PDF, etc. I work almost exclusively with journal articles, so my goals are to have accurate, complete metadata together with the PDF of the main article, and the ability to add supplemental data to the entry easily. (ALL papers in bio sciences currently put ≥ 50% of data as online supplements.)
1)If an entry in my library has incomplete or partially incorrect metadata, how do I tell Zotero to rematch the metadata to a database and fix it? In addition to problems in my current library that need fixing, it's very common for me to import an entry when it's still just an E-pub -- later I need to update the meta data for the actual print publication so it gets cited correctly in bibliographies.
2)If I have an entry with metadata but no PDF (for example I import from Pubmed), how do I add a PDF to it directly from the browser? From what I can tell so far, I seem to have to download the file and then drag it into the entry in the Zotero list. Is there a way to just click the download link in the webpage for the entry and have it automatically add it as an attachment? This applies for supplements too, obviously. Papers3 has very good functionality for this (despite its several other major problems).
3) What about updating the PDF for an entry to a new version. For example, I download the "online first" version of a paper, typically in manuscript form, and later want to update to the much easier to read print-article version that comes out a few weeks later. Do I have to do all this manually (download the new new PDF, manually drag it into Zotero, delete the old one)? Papers3 one-click functionality for this will be sorely missed if so.
Thanks for any help!
An alternative method that is nearly as fast is to use the Zotfile plugin. With this plugin, you can tell Zotero to watch a particular folder for new items to attached. When you want to save a pdf to an item without an attachment, you save the item to this folder (I make it my default download location). In Zotero, a popup will ask if you want to move and attach the item. Click it and you're done.
For updating, while not a one-click feature yet, you are fortunate to be in biology. Zotero has an "Add by Identifier" feature that accepts both Pubmed IDs and DOIs. To update your metadata, it will be very quick to download the new metadata using the PMID/DOI with the "Add by Identifier" tool and then merge the old and new items, keeping all of the updated metadata.