Scribe's apparent superiority
mdrag...@gmail.com
applications with sources in mind, and Scribe seems to beat them all.
I just started using Scribe, because I wasn't happy with Zotero's note
taking capabilities. I keep looking because Scribe's interface bothers
me a little, not a lot, but enough that I'm willing to make the
transition to something better if there was anything out there. It
appears that most are really focused on online sources, which is great
but as a history major I deal with quite a number of books. Any
suggestions or is Scribe the premier application for me?
James Tobin
app for historians, because it seemed to accommodate many more types
of sources than Zotero seemed to. Then I realized, upon closer
examination of Zotero, that Zotero DOES accommodate notes taken from
books and manuscript sources (such as handwritten letters), which are
crucial for me, too. Also, I've found that Scribe's functionality --
especially navigation -- seems to slow down as I incorporate larger
numbers of sources and notes, even though I'm using a late-model Mac.
This threatens to become a big handicap when my notes accumulate into
the thousands.
I'm wondering if, like me, you maybe didn't see or explore the full
range of Zotero's note-taking capabilities. (I discovered these more
or less by accident.) For instance, you mention the need to take notes
from books. If you hit Zotero's little green plus-sign for "New item,"
a drop-down menu gives you the options of recording such new sources
as "Book," "Book section," "Document," "Journal article," etc. When
you record that new source -- say it's a book -- it becomes a part of
your library, and then you can create notes from that book. If you
need to record notes based on a handwritten letter, as I often do,
then you would hit "New item," then choose "Document," then "Letter,"
and then the proper form for a letter appears. Again, that letter
citation becomes part of your library, and you can take notes from it.
Now, that said, I haven't figured out whether Zotero's features, taken
together, really are better for me than Scribe's, and so I haven't yet
made the time-consuming shift from Scribe to Zotero. Scribe is a
terrific tool in many ways. But I'm suspecting that Zotero will turn
out to be a better one.
I'd be very interested to hear comments from you and other history
people as to the relative merits of the two for note-taking in big
projects. What specifically do you find better about Scribe?
I must say that a more thorough comparison of the features of the two
applications -- by the folks at the Center for History and New Media
-- would be extremely helpful. I'm so indebted to them for these
programs that I hesitate to sound a note of complaint...but better
documentation for both apps is needed, at least by a hesitant-adapter
like me.
Elena Razlogova
On Mar 16, 2008, at 1:59 PM, mdrag...@gmail.com wrote:
> Alright, I've searched throughout the internet for note-taking
> applications with sources in mind, and Scribe seems to beat them all.
> I just started using Scribe, because I wasn't happy with Zotero's note
> taking capabilities.
What exactly are you not happy with in Zotero?
Best,
Elena
mdrag...@gmail.com
previous poster is right and I haven't given it a fair chance. I'm
considering going back, I still use Zotero for collecting my sources
so I don't have to re-download it or anything. I like Scribe's
keywords, on top of its glossary which is kind of handy when you first
start out a project and your trying to keep names straight. Maybe I'm
just lazy but I like that Scribe provides a template for your notes -
a place for comments, page numbers, title, etc. They're both free and
I too feel grateful for their existence. I do enjoy Zotero's reports
which look much more official than anything I would wish to put
together. I think I'll probably try and go a bit more in-depth with
both of them.
On a separate note, I came across Pages the other day. Its a newer
application and I like its interface, I just wish they would open it
up a little more. It is meant generally for science but the main
problem is that it does not acknowledge any offline source material.
There is a lot of buzz about Zotero right now, so I'm sure the
developers will be constantly improving it so that is an added bonus
for going with the newer software.
On Mar 16, 3:19 pm, Elena Razlogova <elena.razlog...@gmail.com> wrote:
Elena Razlogova
> Zotero's note taking feature seems a bit wanting to me...maybe the
> previous poster is right and I haven't given it a fair chance. I'm
> considering going back, I still use Zotero for collecting my sources
> so I don't have to re-download it or anything. I like Scribe's
> keywords, on top of its glossary which is kind of handy when you first
> start out a project and your trying to keep names straight.
You can use Zotero tags in the same way as Scribe keywords; glossary
doesn't have an equivalent in Zotero unfortunately.
> Maybe I'm
> just lazy but I like that Scribe provides a template for your notes -
> a place for comments, page numbers, title, etc.
There are different ways to get around that--one is suggested here:
http://www.zotero.org/documentation/frequently_asked_questions#how_do_i_sort_my_notes_by_page_number
I usually start with page number in brackets, then put note title/
comments in brackets after the page number, then start the note on a
new line.
Best,
Elena
Boone
Scribe and its not to be found. Zotero included. As a historian, I
find Scribe perfect, but alas a bit slow as I add sources and notes. I
wonder how we'd get a community of scholars to support its further
development? I wonder too, is it an open source program that could be
tinkered with?
Boone
On Mar 17, 8:26 am, Elena Razlogova <elena.razlog...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Zotero's note taking feature seems a bit wanting to me...maybe the
> > previous poster is right and I haven't given it a fair chance. I'm
> > considering going back, I still use Zotero for collecting my sources
> > so I don't have to re-download it or anything. I like Scribe's
> > keywords, on top of its glossary which is kind of handy when you first
> > start out a project and your trying to keep names straight.
>
> You can use Zotero tags in the same way as Scribe keywords; glossary
> doesn't have an equivalent in Zotero unfortunately.
>
> > Maybe I'm
> > just lazy but I like that Scribe provides a template for your notes -
> > a place for comments, page numbers, title, etc.
>
> There are different ways to get around that--one is suggested here:
>
Morgan, Elizabeth Ann
I would support such an effort, too. I know they want us to use Zotero,
but I just haven't found it as workable. It is still obvious to me that
it did not start as a note taking program, but as a source program. I
also hate the slowness of Scribe, but I know it is because of the
foundation it is built upon. It needs a different base. If I had
time/money, I would look into other options -- there are so many open
source options available now. I am also an academic catalog librarian and
I've watched a host of options open for open source catalogs and search
engines that could be used as well for these sorts of programs. It just
needs somebody who can take the time to build it.
Elizabeth
James Tobin
historian. Elena: can you suggest any options we might have for
supporting the further development of Scribe?
Jim
mies...@mtu.edu
I have been using Scribe for sometime and I would have to agree with everyone else about the
superiority of Scribe over Zotero. The thing is to my knowledge there are no new enhancements in
the works for Scribe. It is what it is. Personally I wished I knew about File Maker because I
would look into working of further developments but I do not. I have my fingers crossed that we
will see improvements with Zotero but honestly I'm not holding my breath. So unless someone knows
something about File Maker and how Scribe works then I guess we'll have to live with what we have.
mies
Elena Razlogova
I'm curious, why do people not ask for notetaking features directly on
Zotero forums?
The best way to get Zotero do what you want is to request additional
notetaking features on the forums and yet I see very few former Scribe
users asking for anything. Instead, people are complaining about
Zotero on the Scribe list. And on the forums we have users clamoring
for reference management features which are continually improved in
response to requests.
Overall, I would still encourage people to go with Zotero over other
available programs, including Scribe, because Zotero is likely to be
supported for years to come. Very few other free/shareware programs
out there have comparable institutional support.
A new version of Scribe with export of italics/bold/underline in notes
should be out this week.
Best,
Elena
Morgan, Elizabeth Ann
and do not desire the changes there. Also, if you are not comfortable
with a program and it seems far from what you want, asking for massive
improvements can feel out of place. It is first a reference management
program and very much marketed as such. It isn't going to naturally draw
note takers and encourage them to ask for significant changes. I never
saw Zotero as a note taking option until this forum and was not thrilled
to find out that Scribe was being discourage in favor of Zotero. The
other reason note takers go through Scribe is that many of us are pointed
in this direction by the historical associations and groups. Although not
quite the same, it is like asking people why they don't ask for more note
taking capabilities in EndNote -- that just isn't what people use the
program for or are aware of its potential for.
If Scribe connected to Zoterro in a way similar to EndNote and Word that
might provide some better interactions. And may allow for a more robust
Scribe.
Elizabeth>
Elena Razlogova
i'll see what i can do (as long as the changes do not require complete
rewrite of software).
elena
Boone
I appreciate your taking time to respond. Don't know about others, but
I am very happy with the current state of Scribe save for two items.
One, I wish it did not get bogged down as the database grows. Two, a
more complete user guide would be helpful, but not imperative, as it
is pretty simple to use as-is. Maybe that is the key, I just like
things simple, and Scribe does exactly what I need with a simple and
uncomplicated interface. I stay focused on my research and not
wrestling with a complex program.
As for asking for changes in Zotero, Morgan's reply reflects my
thoughts exactly.
In any case, I would be willing to pay for Scribe if it were part of
the deal of making it more robust and keeping it current with OS
changes in the future.
Thanks,
Boone
On Apr 22, 2:37 am, Elena Razlogova <elena.razlog...@gmail.com> wrote:
> well, let me know what kinds of improvements you'd like in scribe, and
> i'll see what i can do (as long as the changes do not require complete
> rewrite of software).
>
> elena
>