EndNote fields not in Zotero will not transfer
- This includes custom fields, author affiliations, and a few others.
- Zotero will create a note for the field which you can later decide whether or not to delete.
- Having too many notes may effect performance, so deleting, moving or saving custom fields elsewhere prior may be helpful.
Before you transfer files, determine how much space you need for your PDFs
In EndNote:
- Run Sync
- Look at your Sync Status report so you'll know how much space your attachments take up.
The free version of Zotero has 300 MB of storage.
Getting addtional Zotero storage space
If you need more space for PDF attachments:
- The easiest way is to simply buy Zotero space. You can get 2G for $20/year, 6 GB, $60/year, and Unlimited, $120/year.
- The alternative is to link your Zotero files to online storage. This option may make sense if you already are paying or have free access to a large Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive space. Please read over the directions below before deciding. They are involved, and if you feel uncomfortable with them, take an easier option.
Instructions for Linking to Drive Space
These instructions come from the Washington State University Libraries, and include their author's advice note.
WSU Note: I actually highly recommend using Zotero's own storage...- it simplifies things considerably and also helps support Zotero. That said, if you really want to use your own cloud storage, this is one way to do this, but you can also use the ZotFile application for PDFs, or save PDF or other files to cloud services individually. Also, note that this is all about saving attachment files to cloud storage and establishing links to your Zotero record. Do NOT store your entire Zotero directory on cloud storage - that will corrupt your files and make a big mess.
If you have Dropbox/Google Drive/OneDrive Saved as a Drive on Your Computer
- Create a folder in your computer’s Dropbox/GDrive/OneDrive drive to store your Zotero PDFs, i.e. ZoteroFilesinDropbox. Make sure it is properly synced with Dropbox/GDrive/etc. online.
- In Zotero, go to Zotero Preferences -> Advanced -> Files and Folders. Here you will change your Zotero file storage Base Directory by using the Choose… option to go to the folder you just set up.
- Now any PDF files you download as attachments to a Zotero record will be automatically saved in this synced folder, which will store the files online in your cloud storage app.
- Note: This is a *relational* link – if you change the file structure in any way, the link between the saved file in Dropbox/GDrive/etc. and your Zotero record will be lost.
- Once you have created a Zotero record and separately uploaded your PDF to your cloud storage option, make sure you are working with the correct record in Zotero for your article. Open your Dropbox/GDrive/etc. online and open the PDF so it is readable on-screen, with a .PDF extension. Attach your link to its Zotero record using either the paperclip option in Zotero‘s toolbar (Attach Link to URI) or by right-clicking on the Zotero item, selecting Add Attachment, and then selecting Attach Link to URI. You will be prompted to paste in the file URL and add a title. Zotero will not be able to extract the correct title using Rename File from Parent Metadata, but you can change it later manually.
- Note: If you use Google Drive, once you open the PDF in Drive you will have to click on the pop-out option in the upper right of the page to get a unique URL (it will not have a PDF extension, but it will work).
- Sync your Zotero library so the article’s item record on your library on Zotero.org is updated as well to include the cloud storage file links.
- Now from this computer, or your library on Zotero.org, or any other computer that is synced to it, you will be able to open the PDF from the Zotero record if you are logged in to your Dropbox/etc. account (if you aren’t, you will be prompted to log in). Note: If you are opening it from your Zotero application on your desktop/laptop, the file will just open as an online PDF once you click on the link. If you are accessing it online from Zotero.org, you will have to click on the Attachment Details link at the bottom of the article item record and then you will see the Dropbox/GDrive/etc. link.
- Using these settings, any saved webpage screenshots will continue to be saved in your regular Zotero folder, not on Dropbox/GDrive/etc., and the screenshots will be saved on and directly accessible from your library on Zotero.org.
- Any PDF files previously saved to your regular Zotero folder will still be there, and will continue to be saved on, and directly accessible from, your library on Zotero.org.
- If you don’t want ALL your article PDFs (or other attachment files) to be saved to your Dropbox/GDrive/etc., you can keep your default Zotero preferences and save individual items to Dropbox/etc., manually as needed. To do this, move/upload the PDF file you want to access via Dropbox/etc. to Dropbox/etc. manually, then follow the directions starting at #4.
This is also the option you can use to save non-PDF files including audio or video files to your cloud storage, however you may not be able to open the file in your cloud service if it doesn't include the ability to play it, although you will be able to download it.
Note: the Link to File option allows you to link a Zotero record to a file saved on your desktop that is not in your Zotero directory – this can be good for large files you do not want to upload online. You can also use this with a Dropbox/GDrive desktop drive etc. so that the file is accessible online and connected to your laptop’s Zotero library record, but it will not be directly linked to the online Zotero.org record for the item.
Transfer your files and attachments
In addition to instructions from WSU, we've incorporated some instructions from the Zotero forum for Mac users with .enlp EndNote library files.
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If you wish to export in groups, select the entries you wish to export.
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Go to the File menu → Export.
A dialog box will pop up asking you where to save the export file.
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Navigate to your EndNote data directory -- the .data file -- typically in My Documents\Endnote\MyLibrary.data
This directory is usually in the same folder as your .enl. It contains a 'PDF' folder, but you should be sure to select the .data file rather than any subfolder.
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If you are a Mac user with a .enlp library your .enl and .data files are in a package.
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Right-click the .enlp file and select "Show Package Contents"
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Now you should see your .Data folder and your .enl file. You may want to display in Column view to see the contents.
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Manually move your XML export file inside the .Data folder. In there should be a PDF folder there, and an sdb folder, so you will have three items in the .Data folder after adding the XML file.
- This is important! Zotero will look for file attachments in a directory relative to the location of the exported XML file. If you save this file in the wrong spot, file attachments won't be included when you import into Zotero.
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For “Save as type:”, choose “XML”.
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If you only want to export a subset of your library, check the “Export Selected References” box. Otherwise, make sure it is unchecked.
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Click “Save”.
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Close EndNote.
In Zotero
Open/create a new, empty Zotero Library.
1. Click “Import…” in the File menu.
2. A dialog box will appear asking you to select the file to import.
3. Navigate to the location where you exported your EndNote library (if you followed the above instructions, this should be My Documents\endnote.Data) and select the .xml file.
- Mac users: The Zotero location dialog window will let you navigate into the .enlp package file and then the .Data folder to select the XML file. Now, Zotero will be able to find all your EndNote PDFs so that they get imported properly.
4. Click Open.
- If Zotero encounters any fields in the EndNote XML data that it does not support (e.g., custom fields, author address, author affiliation), it will add these data to a note attached to the imported item. These notes will be tagged with “_EndnoteXML import”. If the import adds many of these notes, Zotero's performance can be negatively impacted.
- What to do with the notes:
- Review each of these notes to determine if the data needs to be retained and delete any unnecessary notes.
- Check these notes to determine if any data can be migrated to Zotero fields
- You can quickly display all of the notes generated during import by clicking on the “_EndnoteXML import” tag in the tag selector in the lower-left corner of the Zotero window.
- If you don't want to go through each note, you can quickly delete all by selecting the tag in the tag selector, clicking in the items list and typing Cmd+A (Mac) or Ctrl+A (Windows/Linux) to select all matching items, and then right-clicking on a selected item and choosing “Move Items to Trash…”.
MAC
