New functionality from Zotero

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Zotero – The Next-Generation Research Tool » Blog Archive » Zotero and Google Tools Screencast

Oh, my. Thanks to Jay Datema for pointing out the above-mentioned blog posting from the Zotero wizards. Love it, love it, love it.

Ok, so back to reality, though. Fact #1: At my place of work, 99.9% of people are not allowed to have admin privileges on their PCs. (Fortunately I am, for now anyway, one of those lucky 0.1% who does have this ability.) Fact #2: The workplace standard browser is Internet Explorer.

Combine these two facts and what do you get? No way to benefit from this amazing tool, which is entirely based on Firefox.

How frustrating this is for me, because it is precisely this kind of tool that my library’s users would greatly benefit from.

The IT Nazis deeply frown on this (can we say, security hazard ten times in rapid succession with increasing volume?). I am so tired of — even though I do, I truly do understand why this attitude and caution are present — narrow-minded IT policies and practices that inhibit cost savings in so many ways. I’d better stop now before I say something I’ll really regret.

[tags]zotero, jay datema, firefox, internet explorer[/tags]

  • <![CDATA[Bruce]]>

    WRT to insane IT policies, is there really nothing to be done; no manager to talk to about revising it?

    I’ve recently gone through some of this frustration with my institution’s move to Exchange, but a) I don’t let them do this sort of thing without them hearing from me about the practical importance of open standards and choice, and b) they wouldn’t dare tell me I can’t use Firefox.

    If you have happen to be at a university, shutting users out of the world of FF and Zotero means depriving them of a better tool, and driving up costs (because they’ll feel compelled to use fairly expensive commercial alternatives).

    With the release of Zotero 1.5, you can make the reasonable argument Zotero ought to be installed by default on, for example, library computers. That would get around the need for installation rights.

  • http://www.bookism.org/open <![CDATA[Jay Datema]]>

    And Firefox (and Zotero) don’t require admin privileges to install.

    Shhhh, don’t tell the internet.

  • http://www.familymanlibrarian.com/ <![CDATA[Steve]]>

    Jay, actually, for some reason Firefox does require admin privileges to install where I work. I’ve had others who don’t have admin privileges try to install it and they couldn’t. However, as you probably know, if someone has a USB dongle they can install and use Firefox from that, and that doesn’t require admin privileges at all. If the day comes when my admin privileges are revoked, that is the alternative I will use.