Direct connection with WorldCat Database

josuecarames · June 16, 2019

So, I was wondering whether it would be possible or not to make Zotero directly connected to the major databases, such as WorldCat. It would be wonderful that instead of manually adding the resources I need via my university's website I could choose them right from Zotero as long as we are connected to the internet. Does that make sense? I think that would (1) avoid transfer errors from any website to my personal Zotero's library; (2) increase the efficiency of Zotero; and (3) make every user's life easier :D

What do you all think? Is this something that is worth looking into?

Thanks!

dstillman · June 16, 2019

I'm not sure what you mean by "manually adding", but if you mean that you're typing stuff in, that's certainly not the way to use Zotero. The primary way to add things to Zotero is to click the Save to Zotero button in your browser. That works on most sites containing metadata, including your library catalog and worldcat.org. You can also add items via ISBN (and other identifiers) using Add Item by Identifier in the Zotero toolbar, which pulls directly from WorldCat and other places.

Read through Adding Items to Zotero for all the ways you can add items.

josuecarames · June 17, 2019

Thank you for your reply @dstillman. What I meant by manually is not typing everything there but rather having to find the resources in an external website. In other words, it would be wonderful that Zotero has a search engine directly connected to the major databases so I don't have to even go to my University's library website to find the resource. Does that make sense? Instead of having to use the save button, let's simply find the resource directly from Zotero.