Re: org-ref & helm-bibtex notes

["Julian Burgos" <julian@hafro.is>]

Hi Titus,

I think a very simple template for the notes file would suffice.  I am
using org ref and had originally modified the template by removing the
TODO, simplifying the properties drawer (no need to duplicate all the
biblatex info here) and adding a link to the pdf file, which is very handy
when reading my notes file.

* [[/path/to/pdf/files/BibTeXkey.pdf][BibTeXkey]] Title
:PROPERTIES:
:Custom_ID: BibTeXkey
:END:

Recently I upgraded org-ref and instead of using my own link to the pdf
file, I use a "cite" statement, which gives me all the goodies from
org-ref (opening the pdf file, accesing Google Scholar, etc.etc.).

* cite:BibTeXkey Title
:PROPERTIES:
:Custom_ID: BibTeXkey
:END:

I have no choice between using drawers or tags.  I have not experienced
slow downs because of using drawers, although tags would make the notes
file look cleaner.  The issue with keys containing colons could be solved
by replacing the colon with some other acceptable character on the tag,
like "@" or "_".  So a reference with BibTeXkey "Smith,Jones 2008" would
get a tag "Smith@Jones2008" or "Smith_Jones2008".

Julian


>
> On 2015-06-16 Tue 17:39, Julian Burgos wrote:
>> Dear list,
>>
>> I have been using org-ref for a while, using reftex to insert citations
>> in
>> my org documents.  Now I am switching to helm-bibtex, which is pretty
>> awesome.  I have a couple of question about the note files.  Org-ref
>> uses
>> a single file to keep notes (e.g. notes.org), but helm-bibtex assumes
>> that
>> notes are kept in separate files, one per article.  My questions are:
>>
>> a) Do you have a preference in the single file vs multiple files
>> question?
>>  Are advantages/disadvantages?  I tend to prefer the single file option,
>> it makes search easy and also I can add TODO items that later I can pull
>> out in the agenda view.  With multiple files this would not be as easy.
>> Do you agree?
>
> Hi, I’m the author of helm-bibtex.  There was recently a discussion about
> this on Github:
>
>   https://github.com/tmalsburg/helm-bibtex/issues/40
>
> Someone convinced me that storing all notes in one file is better and
> there is an experimental (and incomplete) implementation in a topic
> branch:
>
>   https://github.com/tmalsburg/helm-bibtex/tree/note-files
>
> (Multiple note files will still be possible for users who prefer that.)
>
>> b) Helm-bibtex identifies which references have a note file, adding a
>> symbol on the reference list.  Can we make helm-bibtex look into a
>> single
>> file (say the "notes.org" file), look for the :Custom_ID: properties of
>> the entries, and use that to mark the reference list?  I am teaching
>> myself emacs-lisp but this is above my capacity right now.
>
> Yes, something like that needs to be included.  The unresolved question
> is how BibTeX keys should be stored in the notes file.  I find property
> drawers incredibly clunky and in my experience they can considerably
> slow down Emacs in large org files (that’s the reason why I don’t use
> org-contacts as much as a would like).
>
> My current favorite format for entries in the notes file is the
> following:
>
>   * Author: Title (year)                       :BibTeXkey:
>   Here are the notes …
>
> The only problem I see with this is that BibTeX allows keys to contain
> colons, and a key with a colon would break org’s tag syntax.
>
> Suggestions welcome.
>
>   Titus
>
>
>>
>> Many thanks,
>>
>> Julian
>
>