Request for Cobiss

aarroyo
Hello,
I would be interested in being able to use directly the zotero connector to add directly references from the Cobiss catalogue - library catalogue for many southeastern european countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, etc. Right now it is necessary to download the RIS file and then add it to Zotero, which is a small inconvenience.
Thank you !
  • adamsmith
    We'd want a couple of URLs for important catalogs to test/develop with, please
  • aarroyo
    Here are some examples :

    Serbia Cobiss :
    https://plus.cobiss.net/cobiss/sr/sr/bib/search/advanced?db=cobib

    Bulgaria Cobiss :
    https://plus.cobiss.net/cobiss/bg/en/bib/search

    Slovenian Cobiss :
    https://plus.cobiss.net/cobiss/si/sl/bib/search

    You will find the list for the catalogues at this page :
    https://www.cobiss.net/sr/
  • adamsmith
    Yes, that's looks very doable. Issue here: https://github.com/zotero/translators/issues/2927
    No guarantee how quickly someone will get to it, but I wouldn't expect it to take *that* long (would also be a good candidate for someone interested in contributing).
  • brendanoconnell
    Hi @aaroyo,

    A translator is now available for COBISS. Your Zotero Connector should have already auto-updated to include it, but just in case it hasn't, you can also update manually by clicking "Update Translators" in the "Advanced" pane of the Zotero Connector preferences.

    Hope that helps, and let us know if you encounter any issues with it!
  • aperdih
    Hi, the translator for COBISS is very useful. Would it be possible to improve it by importing also the DOI?
    Here is an example that contains DOI: https://plus.cobiss.net/cobiss/si/sl/bib/136673795
    (I see one DOI on webpage, but it is actually encoded in two places in the HTML, if that is of any help).
  • brendanoconnell
    Hi @aperdih, I'm unfortunately no longer with Zotero, but I'm sure someone else either from the team or a community contributor could make this improvement to the translator!
  • ViktorJov
    edited February 2, 2026
    I don't think it works anymore, ever since the last (COBISS) update (it stopped working even before Zotero 8)... Is there a quick fix?
  • tomaz pipan
    COBISS translator appears broken again for Slovenian COBISS records.

    COBISS is the central bibliography portal for all Slovenian bibliography. All the scientific bibliography needs to be in COBISS so it is really important for the Slovenian community to be bale to parse COBISS records. I would greatly apprichiate if this issue can be looked into.


    I was trying to parse this:
    https://plus-legacy.cobiss.net/cobiss/si/sl/bib/286496768

    I also tried importing a RIS file created based on this site but did not work:
    https://plus-legacy.cobiss.net/cobiss/si/sl/bib//risCit/286496768

    Zotero Connector: Chrome 5.0.209
    Zotero desktop version: 6.0.36
    I tried Update Translators in Connector Preferences > Advanced.
  • aborel
    edited 6 days ago
    The translator apparently needs an update, but the RIS import should work if you run the current Zotero version. 6.0.36 was released 2 years ago, the current version is 9.0.4
  • tomaz pipan
    edited 6 days ago
    The RIS file upload works in the last version of Zotero thanks!

    I FOUND A WORKAROUN
    COBISS runs a legacy page with the old front end.

    1. Open the COBISS.js file for COBISS translator in Notepad editor (C:\Users\username\Zotero\translators)
    2. Replace word "plus" with "plus-legacy" (this points the connector to the legacy page)
    3. Open Zotero Connector options page in Chrome >> Update connectors in Chrome
    4. Do not update connectors in the desktop app! Update to the desktop app will reload the .js for all the connectors on your computer.
    5. Do your search for biblio from the legacy page: https://plus-legacy.cobiss.net/cobiss/si/sl/bib/search

  • aborel
    edited 6 days ago
    To protect your modified import translator against the normal updates that are actually useful and recommended, just give it a different name and identifier using Zotero's translator editor https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/translators/scaffold
  • ViktorJov
    edited yesterday at 1:56pm
    Wow, thanks @tomaz pipan!

    COBISS is essential for most of the Balkans (I'm from Macedonia) and I do hope the translator will get fixed soon and be updated for the current front-end; until then, this workaround is a lifesaver (didn't know the COBISS kept the legacy website and had all but given up)!

    P.S. Hm, тo be honest, I see no reason why shouldn't the workaround be implemented in the translator even as it is, just by broadening the host pattern to include "^https?://plus(?:-legacy)?\\.cobiss\\.net/cobiss" too (for now)?
Sign In or Register to comment.