Zotero as a Web Content Management System?

Deane
Has there been any discussion of running a Web site (or subsection of a site) purely off a Zotero database?

I don't envision Zotero managing mainstream content (a la Drupal and countless others), but it would be an interesting idea for a server-wide Web framework that displayed a set of Web pages using Zotero as a datasource. It could be a quick way to "publish" your Zotero-based research to the world.

Since Zotero is fundamentally a SQLite database and a set of files, couldn't you just upload your entire Zotero directory somewhere, and then use PHP (Ruby, Python, etc.) to query the database and display it? You could "publish" your Zotero database by plugging it into this framework, which would then put a pretty face on it for the world.

Just a thought. Is anyone actively developing in this area?
  • mark
    No, I don't think anyone is actively developing this; but one could conceivably manage a dynamic web bibliography in the way you describe. Kind of like the WALS online refdb.
  • scot
    I'd love to see Zotero (ultimately) enable you to publish your notes, either as ongoing work, as the residue of completed reserch work or as notesets that never were intended to be anything more (annotations on a primary text, for example).

    Putting a pretty web-readable face on such notes is a good idea. I also like the idea of making automated 'subscription' of notesets possible. Something like RSS feeds. This would presumably require some of the same kind of backend.

    Come to think of it, do you know about the (currently rudimentary) web interface, which you can use to see your synced collection (using the 1.5 preview)? It's wasn't pretty when I saw it last, or especially easy to use, but it's a decent beginning, and I think they do ultimately have plans for you to open parts or all of your database to (1) research collaborators and (2) the public.

    I suspect in the future it will be possible to (1) host your own Zotero server and (2) expand such a web interface for the kind of attractive presentation you are talking about.
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