My institution now blocks Zotero and my export is non-functioning - what to do?

mmerrill
Hi all,

Windows Desktop version 5.0.4.
Group libraries and local.
Paying for additional cloud storage annually as well.

A year ago my institution blocked Zotero from connecting to the network (or so it seems). I have followed the "SSL certificate error connecting to api.zotero.org" help and it appears that yes all is working, but Zotero is being blocked. My institution will not accommodate me.

I then attempted to export my citations in an effort to protect what our group has generated over the last 5 years as well as prepare to migrate to a unblocked software. When I try to export nothing happens. No pop up screen, no dialog, nothing.

I have not been able to find this issue in the forum so far though I may have missed it. Thanks for any help.

Matt

  • adamsmith
    How have you tried to expert exactly?
  • mmerrill
    I have tried many types of exports.

    1) "Export collection" when right clicking on folder under My Library. Result: nothing happens.
    2) "Export library" when right clicking on My Library. Result: nothing happens.
    3) "Export library" when right clicking on folder in Group Libraries. Result: nothing happens.
    4) "Export item" when right clicking on an individual entry in a folder of My Library. Result: nothing happens.

    If it says "Export", I can not get anything to happen. I can produce bibliographies, generate reports, etc. Just no luck with the exports.

    Thanks,
    Matt
  • adamsmith
    are you able to update Zotero? You should be at 5.0.23, 5.0.4 has a large number of since fixed bugs, potentially including a broken export function.
  • adamsmith
    But actually -- you should not use export.
    Simply use option A here: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/transferring_a_library
    and move the library to your personal computer, outside of the paywall.
  • mmerrill
    I will contact our IT dept. for an upgrade installation. We do not have admin rights. I will report back.
  • adamsmith
    See my other post, though
  • mmerrill
    IT has installed 5.0.23. When I run any exports, I do in fact see the export pop up box. This is a great day.

    On to your second comment...The option A at the url for transferring a library seems to be for the firefox version. I have only used the stand alone. Forgive my confusion about the versions of Zotero, but I am not sure how this helps me. Also moving anything to a personal computer is a last line of defense only.

    My goals at this point are thus...because Zotero is blocked my my network I need to either 1) exist as standalone only without using any network/syncing options or 2) move to an unblocked software like Mendeley (until it gets blocked too).

    For option 1, is there a way to send collections to collaborators so monthly updates can be essentially manually synced between members of the research team?

    For option 2, I have run a text with Mendely accessing the zotero sequel file, but the actual pdf files are not linked. Is there an easy fix that I am missing.

    Thanks again for all the help, after 5 years this is my first request and I am very impressed with the community assistance.
    m
  • adamsmith
    The transfer options work the same for Zotero (Standalone) and for the Firefox version, so that'd work but I wasn't clear that your goal wasn't actually to take the library somewhere outside work.

    1) No, no good way to do that without the ability to sync I'm afraid. The best I can think of is to manually export the items created after a certain date every month

    2) That'd be a question for Mendeley, it's their feature and they'd know what it can do (and how)
  • karnesky
    Is zotero actually blocked on your network? The error you have sounds similar to the one you'd get if your institution is running ssl interception (a man in the middle technique that allows them to inspect encrypted ssl communication, typically to block malware). It is possible to add your institution's ssl keys to zotero if this is what's happening.
  • mmerrill
    I will check out this situation with IT too. Thanks all.
  • dstillman
    edited October 27, 2017
    More info, if it's relevant: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/ssl_certificate_error

    Edit: I guess you've already seen that, but I'm not sure what you mean by "Zotero is being blocked" otherwise, so you'd have to say more.
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