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Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

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Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#111

Post by carbocation »

boyband6666 wrote: post #94
carbocation wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good idea re: giving context as to what these programs are. For most of us who do research, these programs are essentially interchangeable "reference managers." Here's what I mean: I read a scientific paper or look up a citation. I add that with a click or two to my reference manager. It also stores the PDF for me. In the future, I can easily re-read the PDF. I can annotate it and the annotations will be stored. Crit…

I think you meant to say "when my paper is rejected, I can trivially change the format of references to whatever the publisher of my second choice journal wants without any effort" ;-)

Ha! Actually, I use this so that while I write my papers, I can use a format where I can see the first author's name and the publication year (which is meaningful when I glance at it). Then, when I submit, I can quickly put it into the format that the publisher wants, which seems to generally be numeric (and meaningless). But, hey, I won't complain about anything that lessens the pain of rejection :)

Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#112

Post by boyband6666 »

Libbum wrote: post #100
boyband6666 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I work over a home PC, work PC, and a laptop. I'm already paying for limitless Google Drive, so want to use that. It kind of works, but is not a simple option - you have to set certain directories to sync, and not others (otherwise: corruption). I'm guessing box is similar?

Hmmm. No, I have none of those issues. I sync via WebDAV, automatic sync & full-text content selected. My three computers all have different library paths. Having never set it up with Google Drive, I'm not sure of anything else that could help your situation. In that sense your original point is quite valid then - this must be a quirk that still needs ironing out.

Looking at it, yes Box works that way, but G Drive does not without some kind of third party integration, and even then for limited storage: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/webdav_services

My system does seem to work pretty well, I just prefer it when things are very much plug & play. It stops you screwing anythign up, and makes it easy for non power-users to get things done.

Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#113

Post by black_puppydog »

leemailll wrote: post #107
black_puppydog wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apart from it being domain specific (according to wikipedia) it is also not open source, so recommending this as a reaction to the Mendeley news is... words fail me... :|

What do you mean "domain specific"? Personal subscription is also available. And of the popular online reference managers, I don't think open source by itself certify anything related to the core functions of a reference manager. In my opinion, the really established open source ref manager is BibTeX, however, its user base is quite limited even inside academy to specific fields.

Wikipedia on f1000 workspace:

> It includes a Word plug-in, from which you're able to directly search PubMed [...]

That sounds like it's at least focusing on medicine as a field (and generally fields in which Word documents are an acceptable means of dissemination...)

Regarding open source: Being open source is certainly not core to the functionality of a reference manager. But it does protect you from exactly the kind of behaviour shown by Mendeley here. So recommending a "solution" for the situation that has exactly the same drawback as the Mendeley (i.e. vendor lock-in) is short-sighted in the extreme.

Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#114

Post by fantasticfears »

zwaps wrote: post #40
mwexler wrote: post #14

For those wondering, here's what I gathered as some context. Zotero = Your personal research assistant. Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research. https://www.zotero.org/ Mendeley = Reference Management Software, produced by Elsevier who also happens to be the publisher of many peer-reviewed journals. Elsevier come under fire for it's high costs and gateway actions to…

Let me try to explain. Mendeley and Zotero basically do the same thing, which is categorizing literature - specifically research papers. Mendeley offers a built-in PDF viewer with annotations tools, Zotero relies on external viewers for that. Both offer cloud storage. Researchers usually have to categorize and scan over huge amount of prior literature. If you are working on a project, you usually want to have a good…

Do you try tools like Scholia building bib file which is using Wikidta? https://tools.wmflabs.org/scholia/about

Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#115

Post by fantasticfears »

iicc wrote: post #81
TelmoMenezes wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come on...

EU citizens have an explicit right to a direct transfer in to Zotero. https://gdpr-info.eu/art-20-gdpr/ "Right to data portability" >The data subject shall have the right to receive the personal data concerning him or her, which he or she has provided to a controller, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from the c…

Good point. I'm trying to get my dump from them.

Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#117

Post by aw3c2 »

jjoonathan wrote: post #98
aw3c2 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please provide some citations for that claim.

It uploads your PDFs to Elsevier servers for storage. By design. Asking how that could lead to Elsevier obtaining evidence of paper piracy is like asking how using gmail could lead to google using your email to do targeted advertising. You are giving them everything they need to do it, so of course they might do it! The position that needs defending is the supposition that they can't.

That is quite far fetched. You made it sound like they specifically identify and monitor sci-hub usage somehow.

Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#118

Post by xarthur »

boyband6666 wrote: post #93
montalbano wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The way that it still doesn't play nice with cloud services (syncing the directory and its just a matter of time until you get database corruption. It takes a lot of wonky setting up to get it to kind of work, which just shouldn't be the case I'm using Zotero's $20/year for 2GB space membership and it was quick and easy to set up. Works great too.

My library is about 4gb, and will probably hit 6 or 7gb in the next year as I make sure I have a copy of all papers in it. I'm already paying for G Drive however (previously I had One Drive), and would rather have one bill, and everything in one place (control over my own data, and all that).

For me, it is better to separate the file sync into other professional software (such as dropbox) as they do it more professionally. Use Zotero only for handling index and metadata, and you'll also get much larger space, more stable service for a cheaper price.

Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#119

Post by boyband6666 »

xarthur wrote: post #118
boyband6666 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My library is about 4gb, and will probably hit 6 or 7gb in the next year as I make sure I have a copy of all papers in it. I'm already paying for G Drive however (previously I had One Drive), and would rather have one bill, and everything in one place (control over my own data, and all that).

For me, it is better to separate the file sync into other professional software (such as dropbox) as they do it more professionally. Use Zotero only for handling index and metadata, and you'll also get much larger space, more stable service for a cheaper price.

Fully agree. This is exactly what I've been trying to do :-)

Re: Mendeley encrypts users' database after Zotero provides an importer

#120

Post by spott »

masnick wrote: post #103
spott wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any experience with bookends?

Yes, it's got some really nice features but it is a little clunky/complex compared to Zotero. I would try out Papers first before looking at Bookends...Bookends can work great, but it does take some work to set up. Also, Bookends annoyingly checks to see if you are running the same license on multiple devices on your network, and if you have more than once instance running it forces you to close it down. This may see…

I'm using Papers 3 right now, and it is fairly buggy. I'm not a fan of switching to a subscription model (especially as I'm not an academic, which makes it too expensive), so I was looking for something else.

I like Zotero, but the lack of an ipad client is annoying. The file plugin requires more forethought than I really like. Bookends having a mobile client was one of the attractive features.

What is the work that it takes to get set up?

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