Chicago (full note): problem with shortened titles

akateman
My problem is that titles are only shortened if they directly follow the note in which the title in full is mentioned (often in a series of references, so no ibidem then). However, when that title was referred to in full a couple of notes earlier, it again produces a full note while I would prefer a shortened note and also think this is how the Chicago style prescribes it. This kind of crowds my notes. Any thoughts? Would really appreciate it!

I use Zotero 4.0.22 (automatically updated)
And the Word plug in 3.1.17 (also automatically updated)
  • akateman
    Update: I've taken a closer look at when Zotero does and when it does not shorten titles and it also doesn't always follow the logic I've explained above (and I do hope my explanation made sense to others). It seems a bit random to me. Any help?
  • adamsmith
    If you're updating automatically (and in general) you should be using Zotero 4.0.23 Standalone (or 4.0.24.1 for the Firefox add-on).

    That's unlikely to fix this, though. Can you replicate this in a new document just limiting yourself to 2 different items (i.e. cite them A A B B A B A B to test out all scenarios).

    Did you manually edit any of the footnotes?
  • akateman
    Thanks for your quick reply!

    I'll check why it doesn't automatically update (I use the Firefox add-on), even though I checked that box. It might be because I work from a university computer and I don't have full control over what I can download/update or not. Otherwise I'll manually update through the site, I guess?

    I tried replicating the error as you suggested and then it actually works fine. It shortens titles as it should, also if I complicate it a bit further (referring to B and C in one note and then in the following note to A again). However, in my own text, the first full note is often a few pages away and then it seems to forget that it has been referred to in full already.

    I only edited a note which contains three references from the same author (who goes by a very long name) and I wanted to refer to the author as "idem" - even though I am not sure this is Chicago-style-proof.

    Would you have any more suggestions?
  • adamsmith
    Let's make sure you're working with an up-to-date version first. You're likely seeing a version of https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/addon_could_not_be_downloaded
  • akateman
    I manually updated it and I renewed the incorrectly displayed notes and now they're fine. I'll be sure to always manually check updates first... Thanks very much for your help!

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