Back Up Your Data, Part 42
A new reason to backup your data: clouds prioritize the server’s version of your data over the local version. If the server file is corrupted, the sync feature could inadvertently wipe the local database. You’ll want to backup your Zotero libraries at regular intervals on at least on medium: local hard drive, a file server, CD-ROM, whatever.
Zotero‘s new release is out. After months in alpha, the sync feature permits libraries to appear on all your computers: home, work, laptop, whatever. It’s still one step shy of a web login, such as Refworks, but for those that prefer to work on desktop computers, this is a completely viable solution. Read the review at ReadWriteWeb.
What’s Zotero? It’s the open source answer to Endnote. For the uninitiated, academics sink countless hours documenting their sources in very particular and variegated formats. Refworks, Endnote, BibTeX, EasyBib, and supposedly MS Word now automate the formatting of the citations (footnotes) according to your specific publishing needs, based on common database formats. The learning curve is steep but the payoff is great.
