Big Leaps with Zotero

Posted by Tommy

September 30, 2008

I am repeatedly impressed by the work going on at Zotero. The latest feature: online access to your data. That’s right, the data that you have synced with Zotero’s servers can now be accessed anywhere in the world; all you need is a web browser.

And here’s the beauty of it: any browser will do, even portable ones. More particularly, you can view and update your Zotero data from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

This has enormous possibility for pastors and academics. Think of all the times during the day when you have that brainstorm idea for a sermon example or theology paper, and no where to write it down. I have been carrying a tiny (wallet-sized) pen and mini-post-it-notes to make sure no brain bubbles are lost in the course of the day, but now there is no need. Simply access your Zotero database on your iPod Touch, add a little note under your sermon/paper entry (I have a seperate Zotero folder for each paper I write or sermon I preach), and you have an instant and always up-to-date repository of analogies and ideas.

Now if someone would only donate an iPod Touch to Nerdlets, I could write a full review!

Read the details of the newest updates, including a link to get things started, here.

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Tags: firefox, iphone, sync, zotero

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Comments

Comment by Camden Bucey on October 6, 2008 @ 10:46 am

Exactly. I’ve been waiting over a year for the 1.5 release. I’m trying out the preview on one of my computers, but can’t wait until it hits production. Since I do regular computing on three different machines, having a sync solution will be great. I’m also looking forward to the sharing features. Passing bibliographies between colleagues will be very helpful.

Comment by Tommy on October 6, 2008 @ 10:53 am

Zotero has been very careful about their releases, which I think is why things are taking so long. But I have not had any problems with these “preview releases”.

I use dropbox to keep my zotero databases all synced up. Zotero has an option that lets you place its data in any folder on your computer, so I have it placed in my dropbox. Every time there is a change, it is automatically synced across all my computers.