[idea] Android Client for Zotero

ralesi
I have an idea which might be possible if I could find an Android developer with some time on their hands.

Zotero uses an sqlite database to store all the information within zotero. Additionally it attaches pdf's and other documents to the citations in individual directories defined by a unique hashtag for each entry.

I am thinking about copying the entire reference directory, including all the pdf's and sqlite database from my computer to sdcard. Once there we could parse through the database, find articles with search based on the author name, publication year, and journal title. The file path location can be parsed directly from the database information and if integrated properly, should allow you to open the pdf with quick office or any other app just by clicking on it.

I would be able to willing to pay $10-20 for this kind of functionality depending on how difficult it would be to set up. Currently, I am setting up syncs with Evernote and Dropbox, but it just isn't the same.

Someone has already made clients for linux and windows which does basically what I mentioned previously, however it is designed in python. I know python, and would be able to integrate that with android if android-scripting had more advanced functionality, but I don't know java at all.

The linux / windows python based client (Gnotero) : http://www.cogsci.nl/gnotero

the xda-developer post is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=11458358#post11458358

Hopefully I get a response.
  • seans_potato_biz
    Hey, I don't know programming at all; I just searched online for "zotero android", came across this thread and wanted to register my interest!Would be useful and productive to be able to access my PDFs while stuck waiting somewhere.
  • ajlyon
    I believe there are some people currently working on an Android client for Zotero; there has been discussion of the matter on zotero-dev, the development listserv. No timeline, but you're certainly not alone.
  • MG6
    http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2010/10/07/firefox-4-beta-for-android-and-maemo/

    You can run Firefox on Android, no? Zotero doesn't work?
  • ajlyon
    I think I heard about someone running Zotero inside Firefox for Mobile, and I think it worked. You have to change the install.rdf (or something like that) to mark the extension as mobile-compatible, but I think it worked.

    If anyone tries this, please post on how it goes.
  • bdarcus
    I doubt running firefox on a mobile device would be a very good options. I certainly have no intention of trying.
  • MG6
    It might be miserable on a phone, but a full-sized tablet is technically a mobile device, as is the Cr48, I suppose. I see students using tablets more and more frequently.
  • kouya
    What I would love to see is an android client that would use the barcode reader to enter books straight into Zotero. I don't particularly want to work on my database with my phone, but if I could use it to enter things it would save a lot of work.
  • ajlyon
    When write access to the Zotero API finally emerges, adding things by ISBN (and thus by barcode) or DOI with an Android app will become rather easy.
  • MG6
    edited February 26, 2011
    I'm revising this slightly. It still seems like a separate topic to running Zotero on Android.

    It might be simple to paste a scanned barcode number into a blank or existing record, but that is not terribly useful or efficient by itself, and I don't see how the rest of the process would work in the Zotero we know and love. One would be limited mostly to private copies of mostly commercial titles--which I recognize is a legitimate use. First, while library records usually contain ISBNs, they aren't uniformly labelled or queried. It would have to standardize on Amazon or something, which is quite limiting. Second, in academic libraries especially, you won't see a useful barcode. Library barcodes contain arbitrary database reference numbers, not UPCs, ISBNs, or even call numbers. Paperback covers are replaced with hardcovers, and jackets from hardcovers are thrown away. The ISBNs are thus only printed inside, as digits.
  • ajlyon
    See http://eblong.com/zarf/bookscan/#convert, although MG6's caveats are spot-on. I see very little utility in a traditional bar code reader for my Zotero usage.
  • ajlyon
    To bring some closure to this thread:
    Just last week, I released Zandy, an Android client for Zotero. It's on the Android market, and the source code is available under the AGPL. Notably, it doesn't yet handle notes and attachments, but the other basic browsing and editing functionality is already there.

    There is also another Android app that came out last week, Scanner for Zotero, which I haven't tried, but it seems to focus on adding items to your library by bar code / ISBN.
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