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Attaching scanned items from Google Drive or OneDrive
I am very new to Zotero and am looking forward to using it in my genealogy research. I have gone through the book, but perhaps I have overlooked this. How do you attach a scanned item from Google Drive or OneDrvie (I currently uses OneDrive) to Zotero? Specifically, I am referencing Donna's To-Do List process where an Index with page numbers are scanned and then sorted in page number order when you are at a repository. I believe I will be using Zotero more as a note tool than for citations. It seems to be great for both!
Hi, Margot. You're referring to my High-powered Hit-and-Run Data Grabbing Technique blog post, I think? When I come home from a repository with a lot of scans from a book, I keep the scans all together in a single PDF, if possible. When I get home, I create a reference item in Zotero for the book I used in the repository--say a book of Choctaw County Marriages. If I was keeping my PDF of the scanned records on OneDrive, I'd do it just like any other Zotero attachment--right-clicking on the Zotero reference item and choosing "Add Attachment," then either "Attach Link to File" or "Attach Stored Copy of File"--depending upon whether I wanted to link to the item on OneDrive or copy it from OneDrive into Zotero. Then I'd find the PDF on OneDrive and select it.
Google Drive might be a different situation, depending on how you want to store things on your computer. I have begun to use Google Drive to scan and carry the scans home. But I download them to my laptop's file manager as soon as I can. Then I go through the same process I would use for OneDrive.
Some of you, though, might want to store your attachments on Google Drive, in the cloud, and link to them there. (I hear that Google Drive can sync to copies on your own computer. If so, the instructions above might apply. But I've not been able to find a Google copy on my computer.) If you want your files to live in the cloud--no copy on your computer—you need to attach to a URL, rather than a file on your laptop. Find the PDF on Google Drive, right-click on it, and choose "Get a shareable link." Then, back in Zotero, right-click on the reference item for the book you got the scans from, and choose "Add Attachment," then "Link Attachment to URI." (URI is a broader term that encompasses URLs, so it works.) In the Link field, paste the shareable link you copied. Then you can give it a label. Then, when you want to see that attachment, it opens it from Google Drive in the cloud.
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I'm glad you asked, Margot. I will add the cloud situation to the Attachments discussion in a future edition of the book. And I'll mention it on Facebook.
Thank you so much for your explanation. I have only had Zotero and your book for a short time, and I can see what a powerhouse this program is. I find myself going back through your book frequently as I am learning the ins and outs of Zotero, Wish you would do some videos or have some live workshops! I would certainly drive to Alabama for a workshop!
I do hope to do that before long, Margot. Glad to know there would be an audience!
