Zotero 5.0 is here! I will not go into a release notes deep dive, but I wanted to write a few words about the new 'My Publications' feature, but first, a few quick notes:
- I've been a Zotero user for so long that my username is my secret shame; it is identical to the Yahoo! account I used in 2005/6 barely out of undergrad.
- Due to limited storage, I eliminated many citations I no longer needed from unrealized writing projects to 'maybe later' readings to books I wanted to buy for library collections I no longer support. It felt good to part ways with those items and enjoy Zotero 5.0 with the essentials.
- I did not collect the citations of published works, so I reflected on how much I've accomplished since 2005 when I was in a history graduate program unsure of my future.
Bullet three is a lead into some quick thoughts about the new feature 'My Publications' that allows users to syndicate their publications on their Zotero profile page. Mine was bare; I did not have an 'about me' nor did I have a photograph of my myself. It was yet another reminder of my caropinto2004 self.
Fast thoughts on 'My Publications:'
- Easy to save citations from around the web/repositories/libraries and move them into the 'My Publications' tab.
- You can assign a creative commons license that allows for people to peruse your publications and share files. Or if you've published in a journal where you cannot share freely, you can hold copyright and just display the citation. I felt like it was a healthy audit of how many items I've published can be distributed with a Creative Commons license and how many cannot. I've learned a great deal about considering the terms of publication over the last five years and I still have a ways to go, but I am more or less happy with my ratio of sharing versus not.
- Many items will auto import metadata that might not totally jive with the reality of your citation. I had to make a few adjustments from 'web page' to 'blog post' and 'blog post' to 'journal article.' It's a gentle reminder to us all that COMPUTER is not infallible.
- Sadly, you cannot create custom fields for 'My Publications.' I wanted to add some of my book reviews to my page and sadly, I could not find a 'book review' category nor the space to create a custom field from the stand alone version. Perhaps there are other workarounds.
- I imagine this will be a useful teaching moment for Zotero workshops...
