Missing Author

smileycat_02
I'm using the Chicago Author/date settings and have 4 books by the same author, two of these references, however, are missing the author in the bibliography, replaced with ----.

I'm using the latest version of Zotero on my Vista computer with word 2007.

Has anyone had this problem? Can you help me?

Also had the same problem with previous versions of zotero.

Thanks
Cat
  • adamsmith
    that's correct Chicago style - authors are only listed once, all following items in the bibliography begin with ---- instead.
    should be the case for all 3 of them, though.
  • ajlyon
    edited April 16, 2010
    This is the correct way to show that the author is the same as the author of the previous item in the bibliography. If you need a modified version of the Chicago style for your work, then there are some small changes that you can make to fit your preferences. First, however, please check with your university, journal, or class style guide and make sure that that shorthand for repeated author is in fact not desired.

    [edit: what adamsmith said. But he's right that all three should be ----; is there a different spelling, perhaps a middle initial or extra period, in one of the authors?)
  • smileycat_02
    Ok well I actually need MHRA author date but can't get it to work. Tried downloading it and failed. Chicago is close enough for what I'm doing but this is a problem.

    Any ideas on how I can successfully install MHRA author date or change my preferences with chicago?
  • adamsmith
    "Ok well I actually need MHRA author date but can't get it to work. Tried downloading it and failed."
    could you explain this? There is, afaict, no MHRA author-date style on the repository. What did you try installing/doing?

    To change Chicago author-date, delete this line:
    <option name="subsequent-author-substitute" value="———"/>
    see here for simple steps to change a style:
    http://www.zotero.org/support/csl_simple_edits
  • smileycat_02
    I asked why there wasn't one in a previous post in december time and you made one and sent me a link to download into a ff window :

    "give this a try - go here:
    http://gist.github.com/260982
    download using the "Raw" link on the top right, install by dragging the file to an open Firefox window.
    I haven't done this very carefully, so you'll want to triple check with the style guide at
    http://www.mhra.org.uk/Publications/Books/StyleGuide/StyleGuideV2_3.pdf"

    To be honest to chicago is so similar that its probably easier to just change the chigaco style slightly.
  • adamsmith
    well, after I made the style you originally requested/asked about, you might as well get it installed.

    I just checked, the style works fine - what exactly isn't working for you?
    Could you describe step by step what you are doing to install it?
  • smileycat_02
    I download the style, open zotero open preferences - styles - + - then try to locate the style but it will only display csl files and this is a gz so I can't view it. I'm almost certainly doing something wrong but can't work out what.
  • adamsmith
    edited April 18, 2010
    "download using the "Raw" link on the top right"
    you'll see a URL with .csl at the end in the status bar when you hover over it.
  • smileycat_02
    OK you then have to save the URL I get it, well my not so technophobic boyfriend does anyway. Thanks.

    But actually it doesn't work because although it displays author date it displays the author date info in a footnote not within the text. Any way to stop it doing that?
  • smileycat_02
    Nor will it create a bibliography... am I better off editing the chicago style?
  • adamsmith
    yeah, sorry, hadn't tested this well, that's why it's not on the repository - try again (i.e. download again and install again - no need to uninstall the old one. also no need to restart FF).
  • smileycat_02
    Thats working now, only one error with the formatting. The date in the bibliography should be bracketed within the place and publisher for books and after the issue number for journal articles.

    e.g
    Austin, L. J., G Rees, and E Vinaver, eds., Studies in Modern French Literature
    (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1961)

    Dean, Paul, ‘”Nothing that is So is So”: Twelfth Night and Transubstantiation’, Literature and Theology, 17 (2003), 281-97

    Is this easy to change?

    Sorry to be such a pain the dept. are so strict on this.
  • adamsmith
    edited April 18, 2010
    is that your department or MHRA? Because for MHRA you're wrong:
    The author–date system requires all bibliographical references to be placed at
    the end of a book, article, or thesis in alphabetical order by names of author(s) or editor(s), followed by date of publication. The form recommended for use
    in MHRA publications is as in the following examples:
    Crystal, David. 1992. An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Language and Languages
    (Oxford: Blackwell)
    also:
    If the list includes more than one work by the same author, a long dash
    should be substituted for the name after the first appearance and works
    should be listed in date order, e.g.:
    Posner, Rebecca. 1996. The Romance Languages (Cambridge: Cambridge
    University Press)
    —— 1997. Linguistic Change in French (Oxford: Clarendon Press)
    edit: Here's the link to the styleguide: http://www.mhra.org.uk/Publications/Books/StyleGuide/StyleGuideV2_3.pdf
  • smileycat_02
    That is really strange. I was looking at the examples given to me by my professor. Ok well thank you very much greatly appreciated. If she has a problem with it I'll refer her to this website.

    Thanks again
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