Comments on: Bibliography Software: Endnote vs. Zotero

By: JH

JH — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:15:52 +0000

By now Zotero has in my opinion outgrown Endnote in many ways:
The new version 2.0 beta does not only enable you to back up your library and transport it between different platforms (Windows in the hospital, Mac in the lab and Linux at home) but it also allows you to store it on a Zotero server or a WebDAV Server or your choice. It is possible to organize all the PDF’s with it that you ever collected, all the e-books and whatever else, and it will automatically index them for your to have your own library with you wherever you have a firefox with zotero running. You can bring that library on a USB attached storage with you.

I am impressed and I thank the authors of this great and very useful piece of software! Please, continue that way!!!

Finally, causing some legal debate, Zotero is able to import Endnote styles. Well done, I say! It’s worth the fight! Finally it will be over with the irritating Endnote monopoly! No more need to use Windows and Mac with MS word either since Zotero of course works with OpenOffice.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:38:47 +0000

That is a good idea and helpful. I was doing something like that for a time too. I found that merging a backup like that with other research that I had done was difficult. I hope that makes sense.

Right. I still want to see what happens with the cloud. So as I said, I am still watching Zotero, but I feel like I need something that I think is a little more robust for this project.

Thanks.

By: Lincoln Mullen

Lincoln Mullen — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:47:42 +0000

This is what I’ve done to make sure that my Zotero library is backed up: In the settings, I moved the library into the directory where I store all my research files. If I ever need a backup of the library, I can just ZIP the directory and put the archive somewhere safe. (Actually, now that I’m on a Mac, Time Machine backs it up automatically every hour.)

If you wanted to back up a specific set of references in Zotero, could you just highlight them all and export them as an RDF file?

If the next version of Zotero syncs to the cloud, that will definitely take care of any backup worries.

I hope that’s helpful. And I hope your dissertation is coming along well.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:30:29 +0000

I have used Zotero for the past few years, and the last year quite heavily with my dissertation. I have found some good points and some not-so-good points with Zotero. Zotero does not allow you to backup large amounts of references from within Zotero. Even when I checked out the forums, there were people having problems with this. I managed to find a way of backing up what I needed, but it was more of a headache than it should have been. I have also had trouble with my Firefox browser via a virus. That combined with the trouble backing up things has made me look at moving away from Zotero for something more “stable.” I recently purchased Endnote, so I can have a stand-alone product. I will probably look at Zotero again in the future, but for the moment, it is not where I need it to be for my research.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 01:12:30 +0000

I must say, that is pretty nifty. I wish I had been able to use it before.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:27:36 +0000

Yeah, sorry! :)

By: Lincoln

Lincoln — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:06:56 +0000

I probably can’t count you among the potential buyers then. :-)

By: Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:48:04 +0000

Huh. Interesting.I doubt you’ll be able to sell off Endnote after writing this… After all, Zotero is free, open-source, and better by your own admission.Judging from the sparse but intriguing documentation in Zotero’s development section, it seems to be using a lot of the latest in browser plugin development and should remain a leading citation manager for the next few years at least.

By: Lincoln

Lincoln — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:38:55 +0000

Yes. Endnote handles just about every citation style, including derivative styles for particular journals. You can also edit styles and create your own. In my experience, the quality of Endnote's citation templates is lacking. In particular, I had to modify its Turabian and Chicago styles.

Zotero also includes different citation styles, such as APA, MLA, and Chicago. The quality of its citation engine is much better than that of Endnote's, and it's based on a recognized standard. Zotero's styles do have some annoyances, such as not giving an abbreviated citation for a second reference and including the URL by default even for sources which could be cited without it. Zotero does permit you to modify citation templaces; I just haven't experimented yet. More citation styles are planned for Zotero.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:19:24 +0000

Do these handle formatting according to different paper format regimes (Turabian/APA, etc)?