Way to include recommender of an item?

brianjd
Is there a best or most popular method for keeping a record of who recommended or pointed you to an item?

I can think of a handful of options:
* tags: I could do something like `pointer/joesmith`. But this would clutter my tags very quickly
* abstract: Just make a comment about it in the "abstract" of items. I could even add it in the format `#pointer/joesmith` so that I could search for it. It's a hack, but at least it doesn't clutter my tags.
* related: I could make sure to add bibliographic items for the pointers to items as well. This works fine if the pointers are other items we might naturally include in a bibliography (e.g., another journal article). But this gets a little weird if the pointer just came from my friend Joe Smith in converastion.
* extra field: Just add a line like `Pointer: Joe Smith`. It seems like this is what the "Extra" field is intended for. But I'm not sure how this is better than any of the other methods. Also, I'm worried it will get overwritten with other plug-ins. Maybe I shouldn't be.

Just curious if anyone has run into this and landed on a best solution for themselves.
  • adamsmith
    I'd tend to put this in a note -- the best place for general related information. The Extra field was originally kind of created for this type of stuff, but given its extensive use for metadata, I'd be a bit reluctant to use it for too much other things -- plugins should generally be good about not overwriting it, but still.

    I agree that tags for stuff that isn't going to repeat much are probably not the way to go.

    Related sounds awkward for the reasons you say.

    Personally I only use the abstract for the 'official' abstract
  • tim820
    I use a child note too. I list any people relevant to the item who may or may not have been mentioned in the item's searchable fields or text content. In your case you could add the text "Recommended by:" (name).

    If that name text is in the first line of the note it is visible under the item in the main pane. If I have a saved search for that person, along with Creator/is/(name) I will include a search criterion for Child Note/contains/(name).
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