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--- make_your_site_zotero_ready [2008/11/13 14:21] – add refbase's openURL code (also used by drupal's bibo); i don't know of a php library for UnAPI that would be re-used as easily. karnesky
+++ make_your_site_zotero_ready [2012/04/26 10:43] (current) – removed rmzelle
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-This documentation page is a draft, a work in progress, so if you can help refine it, please do so.
-====First Question: What Do You Want Your Users To Get?====
-Before discussing options for exposing your content to Zotero, ask yourself "Do you want users to capture data about individual pages of your site, or do you want  them to capture information about a resource, or several resources, discussed on that page?"
-Let's clarify this with two examples. Consider an article in an online newspaper and a bibliographic record in a library catalog. In the first case one wants to get information about the page the user is looking at; information about the specific article. In the second case, the page in a library catalog, the page itself is uninteresting; your user is interested in information about a resource described on that page. In this case, your user is interested in a specific resource discussed on mentioned on the page, not the page itself.
-Many of the strategies discussed below can fit either case, but it is important that you identify exactly what you want users to use Zotero to extract from your site.
-====Three solutions of increasing complexity and flexibility====
-  * **Use a webapp that is Zotero-ready:** We provide instructions for [[dev/exposing your metadata|exposing your metadata]] in various web applications.  There are content management systems, library catalog systems, and other software that work with Zotero out-of-the-box, or with minimal configuration or plugins.  If one of those platforms suites your needs this will be the quickest and easiest option, requiring minimal technical proficiency.
-  * **Expose your meta data using an open standard:** If those content management systems do not meet your needs, you can add one or more open standards to allow Zotero (and other clients) to use your information.  For a dynamic site, there may already be a code library or examples that you can leverage (e.g. [[http://blog.reciprocallattice.com/2007/12/add-unapi-support-in-rails-application.html|UnAPI in ruby]] and [[ [[https://refbase.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/refbase/trunk/includes/openurl.inc.php|COinS in PHP]]).  If not, you can implement [[http://www.unapi.info|unAPI]] or [[dev/making coins|OpenURL COinS]] with moderate expertise in web programming.  For static pages, you can [[http://generator.ocoins.info/|generate COinS]].
-  * **Build a specific Zotero translator for your site:** This option is a bit more complex, and is advised only when a limitation from the options for embedding metadata makes it necessary. This option will require a solid understanding of javascript and of how Zotero's translators work. If you want all Zotero users to be able to use this translator to interact with your site, you will also need to be in contact with the Zotero development community to add your translator to all copies of Zotero.
-====Two best options for embedding Metadata:====
-   * **[[http://www.unapi.info|unAPI]]:** As described on the unAPI website, "unAPI is a tiny HTTP API for the few basic operations necessary to copy discrete, identified content from any kind of web application. " For our purposes unAPI allows you to serve up bibliographic information in a variety of different bibliographic formats for Zotero to automatically ingest. *<Which formats work in this case? BibTeX? RIS? MARC? MODS?>*  The flexibility of these different formats means that there is a good chance that one of these rather robust formats will fit your needs.
-   * **COinS:** The official COinS website describes COinS as "(ContextObjects in Spans) is a simple, ad hoc community specification for publishing OpenURL references in HTML." COinS offers a easy albeit somewhat inflexible means for you to embed metadata into webpages. By inserting bibliographic information formated for OpenURL inside empty span tags you can quickly insert references into  a page which Zotero will then instantly recognize. If the categories of information available in OpenURL are suitable for your needs this approach can provide a lightweight means for making your resource Zotero compatible.