Error using mac and zotero for my thesis

azahlut
I have an issue with zotero and using it on my mac. I'm currently writing my thesis and I need to download a bunch of links into my library. Every time my databank is open with my results and I click on the zotero botton to safe the papers it hangs and won't load any paper into my library. Since i'm doing an extensive research with more than 100.000 papers it is very frustrating that it won't even safe 10 papers at a time. I have tried to use zotero with a different browser (google chrome) too but it has the same problems.
Is there anything I can do to change that? I'm pretty desperate...
  • LiborA
    From where do you try to save the papers (what URL)?
  • azahlut
    It's an ovid search platform. I have access to it via my university
  • HThole
    Try to mark the citations you want to import to Zotero in ovid, and export them to a file or paste the selected citations to the clipboard and import them to Zotero, Zotero will show you an option to import from the clipboard. Try not to mark all 100k citations, but a smaller number for testing reasons.

    You need to have a proper workflow how to select the needed papers. You have to have several folders in Zotero (First import, Read, Selection 1, Selection 2, Final) or so - you will surely get crazy with such a number of papers!

    If you need to work out 100k papers, you maybe should store the search-results in Ovid and select them there. No one needs 100k papers for a thesis...

    It sounds like you are trying to store the open Ovid-Database, that can't work.

    Please read the documentation on how to work with a citation-managing-program here in the section "Documentation".
  • azahlut
    Okay in case I do something wrong I'm walking you through what I'm doing (checked with my professor and she is using Zotero the same way but maybe I do something wrong):
    Ovid is showing me the results in e.g. 10 papers on one page. I click to the bottom left next to the URL bar and a new page opens. I can mark which papers I want to import to my library. If I mark more than one in that step and click on select it hangs and doesn't import any of those papers.

    I'm working on improving my search terms to get a smaller amount of papers. But even if I have to check about 200 papers (I'm doing a meta-analysis) it is very time consuming to safe every paper one by one.

    Is there a mistake with how I import papers?

    Thanks so much for your help and quick answers!
  • HThole
    Are any Script-Blockers etc. running?

    When I got you right, at the moment when it hangs you didn't work with Zotero, the failure occurs in Ovid? What means "click on select"?

    I don't have access to Ovid, so I can't test that.

    Does the same happen when using PubMed?
  • azahlut
    I have the AdBlock running. Could that be the issue?

    It hangs the second it tries to import the links to the papers into zotero.

    Regarding the click on select: If Ovid is open and I klick on the zotero botton a new window pops up with the names of the papers in the page. I can select which one I want to import. I can either tick them individually or select all and then I press okay. And that's the moment it starts to hang. Even if I only import 5 papers it takes up to 4 minutes. My Macbook is half a year old so that shouldn't be the issue.

    With PubMed it works perfectly.
  • HThole
    edited July 26, 2017
    Two steps to work it out:

    1. Switch off the Ad-Blocker, and retry. Does it work?

    2. Select a number of files in Ovid, and EXPORT the citations to the clipboard and try to get them in Zotero. That should work in any case.
  • azahlut
    Turned off the Ad-Blocker but it still didn't work.

    To be honest: I've read my way through "how to adding items and files" to see what you mean by clipboard but I have no idea what you are talking about
  • HThole
    edited July 26, 2017
    In Ovid like in PubMed you can select the entry of a citation and export this entry to a file or to the clipboard. This is the classical way to handle citations, as you can workout the list of your search-hits.

    This step is to be done without Zotero!

    Search for how to export citations from Ovid to any citation manager.

    https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/34449/ovid-export

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