BibTeX Conversion Help
Name: | Bib Convert |
Version: | 2.2 |
Last update: | 2019-11-27 09:03:31 |
Introduction
This package contains two files which convert several different
bibliography formats to BibTeX entries. Activating this package will
insert a Convert To Bib item in the BibTeX ↣ BibTeX Conversions menu.
This item will be applied to any currently highlighted selection, or if
there is no selection then to the contents of the entire window.
Conversion results can then be inserted in the current window or placed in
a new window for saving, editing, etc.
Click here to display the Bib Mode Features Preferences
This package was initially written when bibliographic searches took place
primarily in telnet sessions, with the results saved by a file capture.
You could then convert these files to BibTeX format. With the advent of
the World Wide Web, most of these searches take place on-line, and you can
have the results (i.e. marked records) e-mailed to you. These e-mails can
then be saved as files, or the contents can be cut and pasted into new
Alpha windows.
This package is a default feature of the Bib mode, and any files with
the following suffixes
.hollis .hol .inspec .isi .marc .oclc .ovid .refer
will automatically open in Bib mode so the menu item will be present. If
you have a window that is not in Bib mode, you can easily change it using
the Modes pop-up menu to the right of the status bar window. If you
want this feature to be available globally, i.e. no matter what the mode of
the current window is, then you must make both the BibTeX menu AND this package
global -- see the Alpha ↣ Preferences
dialogs.
The main formats supported by this package include:
- HOLLIS
- Harvard Online Library Information System
- ISI
- Institute of Scientific Information
aka Web Of Science, Web Of Knowledge
- MARC
- MAchine Readable Cataloging record
- OCLC
- Online Collection of Library Catalogs
aka First Search, WorldCat
- Ovid
- WebSPIRS
- Refer
- EndNote compatible
There is also a miscellaneous Inspec format, see the
Inspec section below.
Example files are included below -- simply click on the hyperlink
and a new window will be opened that you can convert to .bib format.
Bibliography Formats Handled
Please note that like all things web-related, the formats used in the
results returned by various database programs are subject to change, and the
software developers rarely inform AlphaTcl developers of the new formats.
(What nerve!) If you find that any of the conversions below do not work, or
if you have a suggestion for improving the conversion results, please file
a bug report in the Alpha's Bug Tracker (see the help files Bug Reporting and Debugging Help)
or send a note to any of the AlphaTcl mailling lists (see the help file Alpha Readme for more information.)
If you have an entirely different format that needs to be converted,
please describe it on one of the AlphaTcl mailing lists to see if it can
be added.
Please remember that none of these conversions comes with a guarantee, and
all results should be checked before discarding the original records that
generated the new ones. In particular, entry types are very difficult
to determine, and collection editors will often be listed as authors
instead. The Accents To LaTeX filter (in the package Filters Menu)
should also be used to ensure that special characters are properly
converted after the new record entries have been inserted.
HOLLIS
This is the Harvard Online Library Information System format, available at
https://www.harvard.edu.
See the file Hollis Example.
The basic idea is that records are outlined by %START: and %END: tags,
each field label is of the form %FIELDNAME: so we can easily separate
things out.
In the summer of 2002, Harvard unveiled a new version of HOLLIS
which is available by web only (i.e. not by telnet), and records are no
longer returned in the format supported here (preserved in the example
hyperlink above). Kind of sad, especially when you know that these two
features were the original inspiration for this package! (HOLLIS now gives
you the option to have records sent to you by e-mail using the MARC format described below).
Original by Vince <vince@santafe.edu>
Updated by Craig <cupright@alumni.princeton.edu>
ISI
ISI (Institute of Scientific Information; Science Citation Index)
is a commercial citation database service, also known on the web as the
Web Of Science or the Web Of
Knowledge. See the file ISI Example.
The basic idea is that records are outlined by PT and ER tags, each
field label is of the form "<FF> " so we can easily separate things out.
Original by Jon <jguyer@his.com>.
Updated by Craig <cupright@alumni.princeton.edu>
MARC
MARC is a MAchine Readable Cataloging record format used by the U.S.
Library of Congress.
See the file MARC Example.
The Library of Congress serves as the official depository of United
States publications and is a primary source of cataloging records for
US and international publications. When the Library of Congress began
to use computers in the 1960s, it devised the LC MARC format, a system
of using brief numbers, letters, and symbols within the cataloging
record itself to mark different types of information. The original LC
MARC format evolved into MARC 21 and has become the standard used by
most library computer programs. The MARC 21 bibliographic format, as
well as all official MARC 21 documentation, is maintained by the
Library of Congress. It is published as
MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data.
Most libraries retain their records in MARC format, and manipulate these
fields to present catalog record information in their own peculiar format
(which other modules in this package are attempting to convert!)
Some offer the option to return marked records in MARC format, which we
are then able to very easily convert here. Of course, while the MARC
record headings and subheadings are standard, the format in which they are
given is not, especially with regard to column length and spacing. The
MARC conversion is (hopefully) flexible enough to deal with several
different variations. The key field here to confirm that we're dealing
with a MARC entry is 008, which is meaningless to us but supposedly
every record has to have one.
Contributed by Craig <cupright@alumni.princeton.edu>.
OCLC
OCLC (also known as FirstSearch) is a commercial, subscription
based bibliographic database (https://www.oclc.org). Be
sure to have marked records e-mailed using the detailed format,
otherwise the conversion will fail. (OCLC certainly uses the MARC
format to maintain its records, it's too bad that they don't give you that
format option for saving/e-mailing the results.) See the file OCLC Example.
Original by Vince <vince@santafe.edu>.
Updated by Craig <cupright@alumni.princeton.edu>.
Ovid
Ovid is a commercial subscription based database service that is
also known by the name WebSPIRS (https://www.ovid.com). Often you're using an Ovid database product (such as SocioFile) without even realizing it. Many of their products are accessed via a
SilverPlatter website. See the file Ovid Example.
Both long and short labels can be used for conversions.
IMPORTANT: When converting individual entries, make sure that the
Record 1 of 45
is included in the highlighted selection -- this is the only way that we
know that we're using the newer interface output for ovid, and that the
following text is a valid entry. Also, be sure to include either short or
long labels when obtaining the records (this code handles both styles),
but if both or none are used the conversion will fail.
Original by flip <flip@skidmore.edu>.
Updated by Craig <cupright@alumni.princeton.edu> to use the format currently
returned (WebSPIRS5, released summer 2002).
Refer
EndNote compatible. EndNote is a product of ISI ResearchSoft, a division
of the same Thomson/ISI conglomerate that brings us all of the great sites
for the Web of Science/Knowledge/Whatever.
See the file Refer Example.
One significant difference between EndNote and Refer is that the
former always includes a %0 tag indicating what type of item we're
dealing with. If this field is not present, the type is misc. All
records must be separated by at least one empty line.
Contributed by Craig <cupright@alumni.princeton.edu>.
Inspec
The original basic inspec format was a file capture of horrible telnet
interface results of FirstSearch output.
It's a bit harder here, and we have to remove a lot of garbage, however,
we basically only accept lines beginning with '|', and parse the record
names appropriately. This has since been recategorized as OCLC, and is
handled above. This older version has not been tested with the newer
version of this package, i.e. this earlier format might now be obsolete.
In this package, Inspec now refers to a miscellaneous category of
bibliographic formats. If the chosen format is inspec, Convert To Bib
attempts to determine which of the following should be used. Most of
these, however, have not been tested with the newer version of this
package.
Inspec formats generally follow this pattern:
FIELDNAME1 FIELDCODE1: FIELDENTRY1
.
.
.
FIELDNAME5 FIELDCODE5: FIELDENTRY5
There are other variations of inspec formats available (each of which needs
some more documentation on where it comes from ...). The trick in each case
is to figure out where a record starts and stops.
Technical note: In theory, it would be possible to convert
all library results back into MARC first, and then decipher it, although
that would be something of a chore... After you take a look at several
different library record (i.e. inspec) formats, you start to see
how they're using the MARC record fields.
All originals by Vince <vince@santafe.edu>.
- Inspec2
- This is much easier: each record starts with Document N and ends with a
long line of dashes.
- Inspec
- This is much easier: each record starts with Citation N. Now copes with
two variants of this record type (Aug'96).
- Inspec4
- This is much easier: each record starts with Doc Type:.
- Inspec5
- I've forgotten what this one looks like (Record No. or so).
- Inspec6
- Something from Berkeley: N. (Inspec Result).
- Inspec7
- These are for inspec files started with <N>, and each article with an
accession number.
Package Preferences
Many of the Bib mode preferences (Entry Braces, Align Equals, etc.)
are respected when converting entries. There are some additional
preferences in the second and subsequent pages of the conversion dialog
that can also be set to fine-tune the style of the formatted entries, such
as where abstract or table of contents fields should be mapped in
BibTeX entries, and which fields should be completely ignored. These
prefs are saved between editing sessions.
Known problems
Please report any problem or bug you encounter in
Alpha's Bug Tracker.
License and Disclaimer
Copyright (c) 1995-2019, Vince Darley and Contributors.
Contributors: Craig Barton Upright.
All rights reserved.
The Bib Convert package is free software and distributed under
the terms of the new BSD license:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
- Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
- Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
- Neither the name of Vince Darley nor the names of its contributors
may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL VINCE DARLEY OR THE CONTRIBUTORS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
This document has been placed in the public domain.