Informing group library members of upload

sharachchandra
Is there a quick (preferably automatic) way that one can inform members of a group library when one adds new refs to it?
  • adamsmith
    the easiest I can think of is to ask them to subscribe to the libraries atom feed. Not sure what you had in mind, but there aren't e-mail notifications or so for that.
    I believe there's also an IFTTT script that automatically tweets every addition to the library (based on that same atom feed) - so if you prefer twitter over atom, that would be another option.
  • sharachchandra
    Adam, this might sound stupid, but how do I subscribe to a group library's atom feed? When I go to the library (in my FF browser), I don't see any 'feed' button.
  • aurimas
    If you go to the group library (where you can actually see the items in the library), there should be a "Subscribe to this feed" link at the bottom left corner, tight under the tags.
  • aurelep
    Being able to set up a feed for a specific collection is very helpful.

    However, I'm wondering if it is possible to set up notifications that are more complex – probably not, I imagine:

    We have a group library with about 14 members, each of whom is responsible for collecting items on particular themes – where each theme corresponds to a collection under a member's name. Inevitably, members are constantly coming across items that should be added to one of another member's themes.

    So what would be ideal for us would be a way to send a notification tied to a particular collection to the member responsible for that collection but only when someone other than that member adds an item to it!

    Any ideas?
  • adamsmith
    just thinking out loud here, but the API does have "added by" information (else it couldn't be displayed on zotero.org) so that should be possible.

    Alternatively and more "low tech", of course, you could just agree on a tag for this and each person can subscribe to the relevant collection+tag feed.
  • protein function
    Yes, I agree with above requests.

    I would love to see a mechanism to notify group members of the addition (or just the presence) of an entry into the Zotero group library. I have been using and advocating for Zotero for >7-8y.

    Recently, at my suggestion, the startup (biotech) company I work for adopted Zotero to collectively follow the scientific literature relevant to our product (to improve and personalize cancer care). In my mind. one feature that would make groups so much more valuable would be the ability to NOTIFY group member (all of select?) when a new entry is made to the library. This would make groups so much more useful. When I add a file to a shared drive (Windows) I often send a
    notification and a link to the file so my colleagues can easily
    navigate there - Is something comparable possible in Zotero Groups? This would profoundly increase the utility of groups (I think). I will read through the suggestions above. Thanks, Paul
  • adamsmith
    edited June 26, 2014
    Zotero groups have Atom feeds, so you can either subscribe to them, or use a service like IFTTT to notify members in other ways like e-mail, text message, tweet, or whatever else you fancy. See my brief write-up of IFTTT and ZOtero here:
    http://zoteromusings.wordpress.com/2014/01/11/tools-and-toys/

    edit: I see that I've said pretty much the same above already, but if that doesn't work for you it'd be helpful to know why not.
  • corptoxbio
    I also believe that a notification system is desirable for organizations that wish to use Zotero as part of a service (e.g., internal group who receives requests via email to order publications). Although an Atom feed is nice, it is not a true notification system (i.e., new info is not 'pushed' to users). Manual notification via email is intertwined in users daily use, and adoption of a non-notification system like an RSS feed isn't very feasible.
  • adamsmith
    edited September 22, 2014
    As I've said, if you want e-mails use a hook service like IFTTT to convert the group's Atom feed to emails (or tweets or whatever else you want). I'm pretty sure Zotero isn't going to add e-mail notifications to groups.

    edit: though I'll note that a feed reader _will_ notify you of new items in a feed. Otherwise the Atom feed couldn't trigger any action in IFTTT.
  • corptoxbio
    Thank you for responding again to this thread. Did not realize IFTTT "pushed" to email (thought it was for tweets only). We would like others (such as a knowledge resource group) in our organization to adopt Zotero and currently trying to identify obstacles. If this is raised as an issue, will suggest IFTTT.

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