Reference Type: Lecture Notes / Online Figure-Image NOT AVAILABLE

I would like to make a reference to lecture notes (PDF format) & some online Figures/Images I found.
There seem to be no such option available in the drop down list of "ITEM TYPE" in Zotero.

Is there a way of amending it manually, or is it a closed list?
If it is closed, please consider adding additional reference types with the next release.

Also, when I save an item from the Current page (being PDF), it does not allow me to add an author, and when I use this reference in word (Harvard Style), it comes up as ANON...
Why is that?

Any help will be much appreciated!
  • edited April 20, 2012
    It's not possible to add custom item types - and while the next major version will likely add some type, it's not going to include something like "lecture notes".
    It's important to view item types as biographical categories, not as full descriptions. E.g. lecture notes, in the bibliographical sense, are manuscripts (i.e. something written but not formally published). Online images are, depending on context, either images or websites.

    For your second issue, you need to attach the pdf to an item - in many cases that works using right-click --> retrieve metadata, otherwise right-click --> "Create Parent item..."

    (edit: please take it easy on the all caps - _underlining_ or using italics in html (<i> </i>) are perfectly fine for emphasis).
  • Thanks for a quick answer.
    I think you should consider adding "Lecture Notes" as people ask questions about it online, and there are some guides of how to use such reference on the university websites:
    http://libguides.is.uwa.edu.au/content.php?pid=43218&sid=358237

    I'll be happy for "Online Images" to appear as additional reference type, even if they are variations of website referencing.
    I would like, and in fact I need to be able to make a distinction between Web & Online Image reference in my Thesis, as per suggestion from my supervisor.

    Listen to the users is all I suggest :)

    Cheers
  • It's a user forum here, populated by users. adamsmith is a user, I'm a user too.

    Not sure what you mean by "a distinction between Web & Online Image reference". Can you provide a specific example of the respective form the cites you want the style to produce?
  • Note that you can get the same effect as the lecture note by using the Manuscript type and putting the description of what the manuscript is - in this case " lecture notes distributed in Financial Accounting 101 at The University of Western Australia, Crawley on 2 November 2008." in the type field. We can't have an item type for any source that people may want to cite - we'd need hundreds.

    Having content in the URL field distinguishes between online and offline images/artworks. If need by styles can treat items with or w/o URL entirely different.
  • @adamsmith "E.g. lecture notes, in the bibliographical sense, are manuscripts (i.e. something written but not formally published)."

    This makes sense. Is there any documentation on the recommended item types to use in each case?
  • No, any oficial documentation of this is not available.
  • I think it's a perfectly reasonable request -- it probably makes most sense to try to get something like that up with the 5.1 version that also will include type&field updates.
  • I guess this work by "aurismav" could be expanded? https://aurimasv.github.io/z2csl/typeMap.xml
  • It is still theoretical discussion and ideas for update CSL specification. "aurimas" output is generated automatically. Now is nothing to be involved in it.
  • oh that's automatic?! didn't know that. Cool.
    Then some form of Wiki that suggest an item type if it's not one of your standard types, would be useful, no? Including instructions how to add, say a map scale, in the extra field.
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