Can Zotero Be Used as a Database to Develop a Web Portal In Font End?

swiesen
Hi Everyone,

I am in charge of a project that massive amounts of data elements will be entered into a database such as Zotero, and then eventually we will hire a web developer to have a front-end interface so the general public can also upload and enter data into the project.

We really like how Zotero works and how easy and efficient it is to organize our items. Although, thinking forward, I was wondering if it is possible for a web developer to create a front end interface so that items can be added and files be uploaded as attachments to those items using a web browser?

I know that Zotero has it's own web interface, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm wondering if it would be possible to create our own web interface that will interact with Zotero as a database.

If not, however, I'm also curious how difficult it would be to convert a Zotero database to MS Access down the road when we are ready to implement the web interface part of the project?

Thank you for any advice you may have!
Sasha
  • DWL-SDCA
    edited October 22, 2021
    What you want has already been accomplished. We use Zotero to capture items from PubMed and journal publishers and perform minor edits to the metadata. We use Zotero to export the metadata in MODS format to be imported into our online database. Records are further refined automatically on import and further edited as needed. There is a public-side with no write privileges and an admin side with write privileges and a "superAdmin" side with approval-publish privileges. You are welcome to the software for only the cost to strip-out the part specific to my site. (Not necessarily cheap but you will have what you want and more.) [See the public-side at www.SafetyLit.org ] The entire website is fundamentally based on metadata that is obtained from Zotero.

    edit: Two other groups have done this over the years but their implementation was before multiple changes to our code so, alas, you will not benefit from the earlier strip-out work. You will benefit from the addition of a search-term thesaurus system.

    As I think about it... if your topic overlaps our safety focus we could cooperate and each benefit from one another -- at no cost to you.
  • adamsmith
    The Zotero web library is built entirely using the web API, so you can do anything that's possible there in a custom web application, yes
  • swiesen
    Thank you for the responses... this is good news indeed! We look forward to getting our project started using Zotero as our database platform. Regards, Sasha
  • swiesen
    @DWL-SDCA - Thank you so much for the offer to collaborate with us. I will not personally be developing the front end, but when we get to that point (could be a year down the line), I will reach out to you. Appreciate it my friend! Sasha
  • larmarange
    You could also have a look to some plugins developed to sync a Zotero database with a website. For example, ZotSpip to sync Zotero with SPIP CMS.

    The plugin : https://contrib.spip.net/Le-plugin-ZotSpip

    Demo website : https://www.ceped.org/spip.php?page=biblio
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