NEED a Serial or Journal Item record type!

Boettcher
Please! Can someone take a book item structure and make a Serials Item type. You can add a Beginning date (y or m/y or d/m/y) and Vol (and issue) and Ending Date & Vol. it would be good if we have a Y/N ceased confirmation field. And replace ISBN field with ISSN. So people can catalog their collections and I can trace a serial and journal title.

What do Serials people do for cataloging collections? Is there another open software that can help me?
  • bwiernik
    A ‘periodical’ type is planned for a future update to Zotero/CSL. For now, entering these as Journal Article generally yields the best results.
  • Boettcher
    Not the best results for my purposes.
    Zotero is hard enough to have contributors learn how to add records without having to tell them that we can't put the title in the title field, but to use the Series field instead. Unless I can reorder how the fields appear in the record. (Can I do that?).

    I would be very happy to talk to someone about record design for development. Or if I can talk to someone about what I'm trying to do so you tell me a better way to do it.
  • bwiernik
    No, I mean put the Title in the title field.

    So, for example:
    Title: Journal of Applied Psychology
    Volume: 1-10
    Editor: Smith || John

    For date ranges, enter them in Extra like this:
    Issued: 1910/1920

    This will yield reasonable citations. The people working on CSL are familiar with the general needs, but if you want to give a list of fields you would find necessary, feel free to respond here: https://github.com/citation-style-language/zotero-bits/issues/23
  • adamsmith
    edited January 21, 2020
    But also note that if you're running a research project on serials with specific metadata and linking needs -- as it sounds like from your other post -- you may just be better of setting up a custom database (which could be as simple as a well-set-up spreadsheet) than being frustrated about Zotero not being suitable for your needs.

    E.g. something like a Y/N ceased confirmation field -- I totally understand why this is relevant for someone who catalogs or researches serials, but I just don't see that happening in a general purpose reference manager.


  • Boettcher
    If I can't create a customized item type or you have no current plans to create an item type to create serical record that meet my needs. A spreadsheet sounds like a better use of my needs than Zotero.
    1) Will all the tabs and fields be transferable?
    1) Where can I find guidance about setting up a transfer from Zotero into spreadsheet?
  • adamsmith
    Zotero exports data as CSV, which you can open in Excel. That includes all fields, yes. No special instructions needed -- it's just regular right-click --> Export, though do ask if you have any questions.
  • Boettcher
    edited February 11, 2020
    I need the notes and related tabs too. Those tabs did not come thru in the single record export. I take it that when I export the whole library, it will copy the library to export. The File>Export Library... command will not move the whole library out of Zotero.
  • adamsmith
    Right, export doesn't actually remove anything from Zotero; that'd be terrible.

    If you check the export notes box, notes should export, yes. Related unfortunately not -- that would be a good bit harder to do, especially in a useful way.
  • meika
    yes please for serials object/item type, I know Zotero is not a catalogue per se, but on the desktop it's how it can be used occasionally
  • bwiernik
    A Periodical item type is planned. No need for further justification for it.
  • Boettcher
    Thank you! for creating the Periodical item type. Are you taking suggestions on what fields to include? Would I be pushing it to learn how we would we know when it's ready to be to tested?
  • bwiernik
    https://github.com/citation-style-language/zotero-bits/issues/23
  • Boettcher
    Hi, I read the GitHub discussion and back to the "changes to fields and item types for Zotero 5.1" thread. My request is still not addressed. Waiting for Serial type - so I can track the serial's titles, editors, ISSN, frequency, and publishers' changes. This is very important because a lot of magazines' print titles have moved to e-only. Thank you for giving me an update.
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