Accept drag-and-drops from applications such as Zotero

Hello,

I plan to keep using endnote, but i would like better integration with other reference managers as well.  Thus, I think it would make everyone’s lives easier, and it would make endnote a more attractive product, if it accepted drag-and-drops from zotero and other apps of its kind.  In particular, one can configure zotero to output a record in RIS format when dragged-and-dropped.  However, endnote displays the “circle with a line through it” when you try to drop a zotero reference in an endnote library.  I don’t expect it would be too hard to program endnote to accept such a drop, and read the RIS format from the clipboard.

Perhaps there’s already a way to do this.  If so, please let me know!

thanks,

allie

Hello Allie,

We do have an application that will take RIS data on the clipboard and perform a direct export of that data.  This should cause EndNote to start and import the references into EndNote.  Make sure that you have a backup copy of the library before using the software as it will be importing data into your library.

After downloading the following application when you have RIS formatted data on the clipboard running the  exportclipboard.exe application should cause the direct export process to begin.

http://www.endnote.com/support/faqs/files/exportclipboard.exe

Message Edited by PTravis on 11-18-2008 10:08 AM

Thanks a bunch, Peter.  Are there any plans to wrap this capability into endnote itself?

thanks,

allie

By the way, I just wanted to report that this doesn’t actually work for shuttling data between zotero and endnote.  The drag and drop feature from zotero put the data on the clipboard once the drag and drop procedure is completed.  But since endnote doesn’t accept the drag and drop (the circle with the line through it), the data never gets to the clipboard in the first place.  So, to get from zotero to endnote, we’re forced to save an RIS file in zotero, and import that file in endnote.  Kind of a pain.

Perhaps not Endnote’s reponsibility, but neither is it really Zotero’s either!  I guess it’s a question of whether or not Thomson considers such interactivity to add to the value and competitivity of Endnote.  I would argue it does.  It positions Endnote as the standalone product of choice.  Since Zotero has much better browser integration, yet lacks important features of Endnote, it’s positions Zotero as merely a translation tool that acts between Firefox and Endnote.

oops - i take it back.  There is indeed a way to copy a record to the clipboard in RIS format in Zotero (Ctrl-Alt-C).  Still, drag-and-drop would be the best.

Message Edited by albo on 11-25-2008 01:26 PM