Options for public computers

Hello, I am planning to install Zotero on PCs in a library computer lab. The sync feature makes it possible for students to use Zotero in the lab and save their work. However, it's a little bit awkward. It takes a user several clicks to get to sync settings to enter their account information. Then they have to remember to remove the information when they are finished, and possibly go through a number of additional steps to delete the local library after syncing.

I plan to make a script that will close firefox and clear out Zotero information, which could run at logout and possibly at the user's request. But then I'd still be counting on the user remembering to logout or run the script. (Does anyone have a better way of handling this?)

For this situation it seems like it would be handy to have a couple of features:
1) More easily accessible sign in/sign out for Zotero sync, and an option to sign out automatically when the browser is closed. Perhaps the Zotero plugin could recognize user accounts that are signed in to the zotero.org web site, instead of requiring user and password to be entered in the preferences? Then this could be handled through existing means for handling cookies.

2) A "sync only" mode, where library data is not stored locally, or is stored long enough to sync but cleared on sign out or browser closing.

Any thoughts appreciated,
-david
  • Such a good, feature rich service... Zotero is... I'm afraid people are groping in darkness still. Logout from the browser plugin is the first and only problem I've discovered since I started using Zotero from couple of days. This problem as David said is when one works from the lab at college/university. No one is working to solve this problem? Not even the administrators :( Pls help.
  • edited July 22, 2010
    as I said before this is really a question of having a decent set-up for your computer lab.
    I don't really see the "sync only" mode working and making the sync mode more accessible means making a feature that 95% of all users hardly ever access more accessible, which seems like a dubious trade-off to make. It would seem like a script that wipes the Zotero data could also reset all the Zotero hidden preferences to their default, no?

    The real solution to this is to find a set-up for your computer lab where people have access to their own accounts.
  • Finding and setting up the real solution is not that easy... esp in Libraries in India. Need a personal solution where one accesses Zotero both from personal laptop and desktops at public/college library. Pls suggest how to use the script where i can reset the data !

    Regards,
    Aravind.
  • Thanks for the input. I'm glad to learn that I'm not the only one struggling with this after all!

    Roaming profiles aren't really an option for us, since we don't provide our patrons with individual accounts on a Windows domain, nor do we have any desire or infrastructure to do so.

    Certainly, a script that wipes out local Zotero data could also log the user out and clear other settings. But this is still, to borrow a phrase, a "clunky workaround," and leaves the inconvenience of multiple clicks to log in.

    What I'm wishing for here is easy access to the online information from public computers where the user doesn't have an individual account. Patrons are used to easily using information stored in a number of online services, from email to file storage to document creation and more. It would be great if they could get at and use their Zotero information just as easily.

    In short, I guess I'm hoping Zotero sync could act more like a cloud-based service, whereas the vision for it seems to be mainly as a tool for synchronizing locally-stored data.
  • In short, I guess I'm hoping Zotero sync could act more like a cloud-based service, whereas the vision for it seems to be mainly as a tool for synchronizing locally-stored data.
    I think that's exactly right and I think syncing should remain what it is. For most academics that is _exactly_ what we want - having our data with us at all times, regardless of internet access.

    What might change/improve is to add other ways to get data into your online Zotero account - but I'm pretty sure anything that tries to use Zotero sync for that purpose will always be an ugly workaround. But if I remember correctly other ways of accessing and storing data into your account are planned. Those would also be useful for interaction e.g. with an ipad or similar devices.
  • OK, better to frame this as a request for an entirely new feature rather than as an option for Zotero sync, I take it? I'm definitely not trying to suggest doing away with local data or syncing between local databases. But for the public computer lab situation, it would be handy for users to be able to use Zotero directly with their online information rather than syncing to a temporary local database that needs to be reset for the next user.

    Is there any public information on those plans for other ways of working with online data that you could point me to?

    Thanks again,
    -david
  • There is not much public information about work on the Zotero website. With that said, the eventual plans for interacting with Zotero libraries through the website will, more or less, fit the need you are describing.
  • Just to update this thread, it looks like everything I could ask for and more is on the way:
    http://www.zotero.org/blog/zoteros-next-big-step/
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