Linking to OneDrive "sharing link" in URL field

rbrekhus
edited 5 days ago
I'm a librarian who works with researchers who sometimes collaborate with a working group on a publication. I know how to teach them to set up Groups, bearing in mind that any shared files stored in Zotero will be counted against the file storage limit of the researcher who sets up the group. They often ask me about how to link to files stored in their university-provided storage in OneDrive or Sharepoint/Teams, in the case of groups. I tell them that file storage with Zotero is reasonably priced, and I also tell them about using ZotMoov for individuals. I also remind them that linked-file attachments aren't supported (and are grayed out) for Group Libraries.
I have been asked, what about using the URL field of a Zotero record to store a "sharing link" to OneDrive or SharePoint? Such a link is only usable only by people granted permission to use that file, like when you send a OneDrive link instead of an attachment by email. Is this method safe, or is there a risk that these "sharing links" from Sharepoint/Teams could corrupt one's Zotero database?
  • rbrekhus
    Here's an example of such a link:
    https://mailmissouri-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/r/personal/brekhusr_umsystem_edu/Documents/Documents/Zotero/handouts/2025-02-07-Zotero Handout.pdf?csf=1&web=1&e=u3r6Xc
  • rbrekhus
    edited 5 days ago
    That link works for me but should not work for anyone else.
    Here is one that's linked to a file stored in Teams, which should work for me and a few other people at my university, but no one else:

    https://mailmissouri.sharepoint.com/:b:/r/sites/UGResearchContest-Ogrp/Shared Documents/General/2025/lbp2n_lucy banion research process statement.pdf?csf=1&web=1&e=CnNMNm
  • adamsmith
    No risk of corruption in the specific sense of the word, but the URL field is used for citations, so this will mess with citations. They should instead use "Add Attachment" --> "Web Link" -- though note that as an important disadvantage of this (or the URL) method the file won't open in Zotero but instead in their browser, so you can't use Zotero's annotation tools etc.
  • tim820
    To avoid the URL field, another option would be to place the link in an item (child) note or standalone note. I don't have any such links to test, so I don't know if that will open in your default browser or your OS's default handler for the linked file type.
  • adamsmith
    That seems strictly worse than an attached web link though, no?
  • tim820
    Depends on how such links open from a note ;). It might be in the OS's default handler instead of the web browser (for the web link alternative). And as this use case sounds like it is for collaborative writing rather than say for access to a remote store of PDFs, the lack of access to the Zotero reader may not be a deal killer. I can also see how having a collection of such links to relevant documents in a *single* note - along with any necessary commentary - might be a decent option for collaborative writing. If those particular links actually work.

  • rbrekhus
    Thank you, all. There are usually two goals here - ability to collaborate on a document and have more than one person creating citations, and ability for all team members to access article PDFs stored in either the individual, institutionally allocated OneDrive of the person who first found the article or in a team's Sharepoint space for its shared documents, also subsidized by the institution.
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