Mutliple libraries

SMay
I have just switched to Zotero from Endnote and am amazed that the multiple library option is not possible yet. The switch was promoted by a job change into a slightly different area. I would like to be able to go in and out of my previous library and a new one. The previous library is large - 3000+ references - and importing this has slowed Zotero down a lot. It isn't functional like this. It seems logical to me to be able to switch in and out of Zotero libraries in the way you can with Endnote.

My - naive - knowledge of Zotero's innards suggests that it wouldn't be a massive switch to introduce this extra layer and have Zotero move between libraries.

Any idea when this function will be added to Zotero?!
  • ben58
    Well, actually it is possible with an inelegant work-around: It is possible to define where Zotero keeps everything. You may define several places and switch between them as you need. Go to Zotero preferences, select "advanced" tab, and select the storage location.

    I have no experience with large collection in Zotero and just wonder: do you mean simply having a lot of items in Zotero slows it down substantially?
  • ben58
    Also see http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/2266/quick-toggle-of-libraries/
  • SMay
    Thanks Ben.

    Am I right in thinking that defining several storage places will mean restarting Firefox each time?

    Yes, many items slows Zotero.

    Thanks for the discussion link suggestion - I've read that and couldn't readily spot an answer. Some posts were fairly old, and some seemed contradictory. Maybe I just got the wrong end of the stick!

    Sarah
  • adamsmith
    yes, restart is necessary.
    If you are mainly interested in speed, if you set full-text indexing to 0 you'll get a major speed boost.
  • mark
    And you could also consider using collections. Zotero will remember the collection you last used, so if you have one 'library' in one collection (and subcollections) and the other in another, switching libraries is actually lightning quick.
  • adamsmith
    yeah, but that does nothing for the speed with which Zotero does things (search, autocomplete etc.)
  • SMay
    Thank you for your comments.

    I was already using two collections, but finding it very slow. I had already seen the previous discussion, but did not find it massively instructive. I have adopted Ben's suggestion of switching storage locations. It's a pain, because of the need to restart firefox eaech time. It seems to be the best of the current options though. Thanks for the run through of how!

    Are there any noises from the Zotero tech-bods as to when this issue will have a more tenable solution.

    Bw
  • adamsmith
    The new version (2.07b) is significantly faster.
    Also, have you tried turning off indexing?
    I've not heard any talk about multiple libraries.
  • alexuw
    on using separate profiles I posted an idea here. ahh, let me just copy and paste (and slightly modify), it makes more sense in this thread anyhow.

    You can do something like a dedicated instance of firefox for a zotero library by installing the library in a separate profile. Create a new firefox profile [zotero-profile-name] and install zotero. Run that specific firefox profile / zotero library with a command like:

    firefox -P [zotero-profile-name] -no-remote &

    That will run a firefox instance with the profile/library you created rather than your default profile. You can run both simultaneously. For convenience, you can create a menu item or other shortcut for that command line. And set the new zotero://fullscreen url as homepage to make this a pseudo-stand-alone zotero instance.

    (This is on linux, windows command should be the same.)
  • zroutik
    Anybody knows how to change the displayed name of such a fullscreen library window? I've changed the shortcut name and its icon (that is pretty easy), but when switching windows (alt-tab) there is always a FF icon and "Mozilla Firefox" name. These seem to be default icon and default name when running FF engine. Any suggestion how to change them? Cheers, M

    p.s. I feel this shortcut somehow helps me to manage multiple libraries easier. My configuration:
    - I'm using three libraries which I do not want to mix"

    * one is strictly work related (papers mostly), and it is indexed fully (including PDFs) (is relatively small and is moved daily to and from my workplace, this one has the shortcut for quick corrections in the library), and had to set to use external PDF viewer...
    * the other two are 'other science' and 'belles-lettres' -- the PDFs are not supposed to be indexed (takes much time) and the libraries are just too big to be moved daily. I do not need to cite them anywhere or used their references, it's just so good to have all the digital files in shape finally :)

    - installed xmarks, zotero and zoterename extensions -- thus I have my passwords synced, if needed.

    So, I'm testing such a configuration...
  • zroutik
    BTW, when launching two FF profiles when Z is set to the same library in both profiles. The later fails to load. There is no way to switch to other library unless killing any FF (because Z just says 'error', but does not allows opening), starting FF with the non-zotero profile, and switching to the other library. Afterwards both libraries in both FF profiles open. Cheers, M
  • dstillman
    BTW, when launching two FF profiles when Z is set to the same library in both profiles. The later fails to load.
    Yeah, don't do that.
    There is no way to switch to other library unless killing any FF (because Z just says 'error', but does not allows opening)
    You may still be able to access the preferences via Tools->Add-ons->Extensions->Zotero->Preferences/Options.
  • zroutik
    Yep, that helped :) Thanks. M
Sign In or Register to comment.