urls and access dates

bdarcus
I still think the auto-URL and access date stuff needs work. These are for online resources and citations. So if, for example, I go to a NYT article and save the page I am viewing, it should store that information, and include it in the citation. But if I am viewing a page for a journal article, and save the citation information from that linked resource, the same should not apply.

The rule might be, then, that URL + access date are for when the viewed page = the cited resource, while not for when the viewed page is just a reference to a copy of a cited resource (one available easily off-line).

This is not to say Zotero shouldn't store the information somehow, but it is a fundamentally different kind of data from the standpoint of citations.
  • dstillman
    Yup, you're right. We've been meaning to adjust the scrapers for that distinction, to have them save URL/access date for some and a linked URL (or snapshot, if the pref is on) when the URL is just a reference.
  • shane.lindsay
    Bump. Did a search on forum, as I wanted to raise this issue. Right now I have to go and delete url's in Zotero to stop them getting cited.
  • dwain0wilder
    It would also be very nice if the "Accessed" field could be chosen (perhaps as a shortcut in Preferences) as the default "Date" field. This is usually the case when accessing websites.
  • bdarcus
    @dwain0wilder: "usually the case" how? In the bibliography output? If yes, for what styles?
  • dwain0wilder
    I meant to say that when adding a website to a collection, the "Date" field of the document is usually identical the "Access" field. It could be easily filled in with a shortcut key.
  • bdarcus
    ... the "Date" field of the document is usually identical the "Access" field.
    How so? Seems to me in the vast majority of cases, the dates are in fact different. A creation date is entirely a different thing than an access date.

    It would be nice if Zotero could figure out the last updated date from the headers, and maybe add that as the "date" though.
  • dwain0wilder
    Here's what I'm doing with Zotero: I'm tracking website articles on health care reform. I do this on a daily basis. When I add an article, I almost always do so on the same day it is published. Thus, the "Accessed" date is the same as the article's "Date" field (presumed, at least by me, to be its creation date). It would be handy to fill in the "Date" field with the "Accessed" field value by using a shortcut key.

    Does that clarify my request?
  • britannia
    Since this is an old thread and I'm having the same problem at the moment, I wanted to ask:

    Is it now possible to have Zotero fill in the date of my last access to a website in my bibliography? If so, what do I need to do to get Zotero to do that? Or do I have to fill in the date myself after I've let Zotero create the bibliography?
  • adamsmith
    yes, Zotero does it automatically. I you're not seeing access dates, you're likely just using a citation style that doesn't call for them anymore (APA for the most part, Chicago Manual, MLA all got rid of them).
    For more, please start a new thread -- generally makes more sense to not revive 7 year old discussions, since much has changed since and it just gets confusing.
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