
Keeping a Bibliography - Topolomancer
https://bastian.rieck.me/blog/posts/2020/bibliography/
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ohmyblock
Why not using Zotero or similar? Isn't it much more convenient?

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funklute
The one thing I wish Zotero would have is the ability to export (and then
version control) the collections layout. I don't really trust Zotero to not at
some point mess this up, especially if I'm trying to sync multiple accounts
after an internet outage, and having the collections layout backed up would
really make me trust the platform a lot more.

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calstad
If you use org mode I highly suggest org-ref
([https://github.com/jkitchin/org-ref](https://github.com/jkitchin/org-ref))
that leverages and adds a lot to Bibtex. It makes
creating/managing/citing/searching a bibliography a breeze.

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dysosmia
Another reference to Zettelkasten! I've only recently become aware of it,
though it's pretty clear to see how that concept and the bibliography concerns
here complement each other. Anyone have any experience combining the Z method
with good reference management for the long-term?

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henrikeh
I think most implementations of a Zettelkasten _does_ include a reference
system, but it is not explicitly a _part_ of the Zettelkasten, but simply a
complementary tool.

I can’t comment on “long-term”, but I have been working on a paper this past
week and have used my Zettelkasten notes and references extensively. Writing
the draft has mostly consisted of copying snippets and titles from the ZK.
Sine all my notes have references in place, the draft already have references
ready to be converted to something LaTeX will handle.

I’ve also used the reverse: finding which notes reference a particular paper.

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kens
What's the best way to keep track of notes on the documents and books that one
reads? I use a combination of Evernote, text files, directories of scanned
pages, and so forth, and it's not optimal.

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funklute
I prefer to keep it simple. I add references in my .bib database via Zotero,
then I version control the .bib file (exported from Zotero). And then I add
.md files with notes, and the .md files are named according to the citation
key in the .bib file. Then I version control those .md files. Advantage is
that notes are all in the same format and place, regardless of what reference
type (e.g. pdf, webpage, could even cite a video), and they are all very
easily searchable, including through time (via version control).

EDIT: I keep a separate folder on my Dropbox (so not version controlled) of
the actual resources, such as .pdf files. Again named according to the
citation key in the .bib file.

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sasvari
you might wanna have a look at pubs [0]. It is a command line bibliography
manager.

The folder structure looks like this:

    
    
      ~/.pubs/
          bib/
          doc/
          meta/
          notes/
    

The bibkey is the filename for the different files in those folders, and for
notes you can use markdown. You can then keep your pubs folder under version
control (or symlink the (sub)folder(s) to wherever).

[0] [https://github.com/pubs/pubs](https://github.com/pubs/pubs)

~~~
funklute
Thanks, that looks really interesting!

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Cenk
If you prefer to automate most of this -->
[https://citationsy.com](https://citationsy.com)

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kmill
Has anyone compared JabRef to Zotero? I chose JabRef a while back (its
database is nothing more than your bib file, it helps organize your pdfs well
enough, it can import bib entries from MathSciNet and the ArXiv, it runs fast
enough), but every once in a while I wonder whether the programs I'm not using
are the ones that deliver true bibliographic salvation.

~~~
funklute
I switched from JabRef to Zotero a while ago, mainly because JabRef seemed to
be extremely buggy. I'm broadly using the same feature set on both, but Zotero
is a lot less buggy, and it's faster and easier to add new references.

If JabRef was more stable, I think I would have stuck with that, because of
the inherent simplicity.

EDIT: I'm an exclusive linux user, and as you can maybe tell, I like JabRef
because of the unix-ish philosophy: a tool that does exactly what it needs to
do, and nothing more.

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coliveira
Bibtex is the true standard for bibliographies. Practically every scientific
publisher uses it. This shows how well designed the bibtex format was: nearly
30 years after it was created, we see it used everywhere.

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Topolomancer
In particular with BibLaTeX it truly is a joy to use for me! I am saddened by
seeing how little some publishers care about providing good output, though.

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superflit
I am surprise no one cited
Jabref([https://www.jabref.org](https://www.jabref.org)).

The author does cite it on *6.

It works nicely, cross-platform. It can work on Lyx, Latex, Bibtex, and Word.

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funklute
Unfortunately I've found it rather buggy (on linux) in the past. It really
could be a super nice tool, if they traded some features for more stability,
in my opinion.

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lmns
This is also my experience with JabRef on macOS. If I remember correctly, I
had some problems where it silently corrupted parts of my bibliography. I'm
not sure if it was related to me using it with subversion or some other
problem, but I was a little bit surprised to say the least.

~~~
funklute
Ouch, that sounds pretty bad... Thankfully I didn't have that issue - mostly
my problems were to do with java libraries, glitchy UI, and the "add
reference" tool often didn't work.

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raister
I'll leave this here [https://www.mendeley.com/](https://www.mendeley.com/)

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uneekname
I'd recommend Zotero as an easy-to-use, open source alternative.

[https://www.zotero.org/](https://www.zotero.org/)

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Bedon292
I have used both extensively. And I really want to love Zotero, but to me
Mendely is just so much better I have to use it.

Am really curious about JabRef though that other people are mentioning.
Haven't used it before.

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funklute
For me the key drawback about Mendeley is a very limited ability to control
the citation keys. Even on Zotero this is a second-class citizen, since you
have to install a plugin.

Have you been able to control the citation keys on Mendeley? It's been a while
since I've tried it now...

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Bedon292
Sorry, slow response. Every item has a Citation Key field on it in the
details. Just put whatever you want in there. Annoyingly it doesn't show up
until after you try and export or copy it the first time. I just hit Ctrl-K to
copy the citation and then change it if needed.

