zotero: a next-generation research tool

A team from George Fox, led by Karen Coronado, is presenting on Zotero, a Firefox extension that supports reference management. She is demo'ing the ability to import data directly from Google Scholar results lists into Zotero. Zotero has the ability to support metadata, including user notes, for citations/items. Alexander Rolfe is now demo'ing the metadata support within Zotero in greater detail, and the export functions. The export option supports Export to EndNote, RefWorks, and other citation software formats (in addition to exporting to applications such as MS Word). He is demo'ing the advanced search capability, which enables searching of any Zotero field (long drop-down list of record items).

He then did a compare/contrast with EndNote - which is a locally-installed Windows application; it has a high learning curve and works well with scholarly databases and services - and RefWorks, EndNote Web, and Zotero. It has support for a wide array of output formats (in contrast to Zotero). With EndNote, there are two methods of getting bibliographic references: import filters and connection files (the former supporting the import of data from database interfaces). He noted that EndNote Web is available via site license; I received a specific query about EndNote university-wide product licensing in the WSU ATO group. It seems like EndNote Web would be the first-considered option for this need, even though it's a distinct product that doesn't completely replace EndNote. Alexander noted that Zotero is COinS-aware.

Robin Ashford is describing the pros and cons of Zotero, and its new 2.0 version. Zotero's support for automatic capture from web, databases, and OPACS stands out; another strength is its tagging support. The fact that it's an open source solution enables end-user extension of the product, a theme that I emphasized a lot during my presentation this morning on NWDA software development (albeit in a commercial database context). Its cons, covered by Robin, include: limited style output formats and the fact that you cannot sync collections across multiple computers.

With Zotero 2.0, you must download the Zotero client (so technically, it won't be web-based). You will be able to use it on any computer, getting around one of the major shortcomings described above. As the session is wrapping up, she's describing the Zotero API, which supports the creation of mash-ups; again, the issue of application extension is critical.

At the end, Robin praised Trevor Owens' (the Technology Evangelist at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University) work in improving Zotero and increasing its use. Time to visit with other attendees at a local pub, on the way out of town.