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Zotero VS Open Library

Compare Zotero VS Open Library and see what are their differences

Zotero logo Zotero

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research.

Open Library logo Open Library

The ultimate goal of the Open Library is to make all the published works of humankind available to...
  • Zotero Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-24
  • Open Library Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-26

Zotero videos

Zotero vs Mendeley: which one is best?

More videos:

  • Review - Using Zotero for academic writing

Open Library videos

Open Library Overview

More videos:

  • Review - Aaron Swartz on The Open Library
  • Review - The Open Library of Humanities

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Zotero and Open Library)
Research Tools
100 100%
0% 0
eBook Reader
0 0%
100% 100
Information Organization
100 100%
0% 0
Ebooks
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Zotero and Open Library

Zotero Reviews

Top 5 Free Reference Management Software for Research
Zotero is the only software that automatically senses research on the web. Need an article from JSTOR or a preprint from arXiv.org? A news story from the New York Times or a book from a library? Zotero has you covered, everywhere.
10 Best Reference Management Software for Research
Zotero is a reference management software that can be used by students and researchers of all levels. It’s a great way to keep track of your sources, as well as easily create citations and bibliographies. Here are some of the ways Zotero can be especially helpful for Ph.D. students:
Citation Management Tools - Alternatives to EndNote
Mendeley is a free Web-based tool similar to Zotero, but it sets itself apart with a robust PDF annotating tool. Because Mendeley doesn't work within Google Docs, you would have to create a bibliography and copy it over to the document. Thus, Mendeley might be a great fit for those who use citation managers for personal projects but not for those participating in a lot of...

Open Library Reviews

15 Best LibGen Alternatives & Sites Like It in 2024
Open Library stands out by prioritizing accessibility for visually impaired readers, offering a diverse range of books in accessible formats, and reinforcing its commitment to inclusivity and equal access to information.
Source: earthweb.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Open Library seems to be a lot more popular than Zotero. While we know about 263 links to Open Library, we've tracked only 17 mentions of Zotero. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Zotero mentions (17)

  • Newbie help setting up Zotero using existing materials
    If the second, then you need to create a zotero group library. This can only be done at zotero.org but syncs with your client. Source: 12 months ago
  • Problems with syncing
    When I check the API settings on zotero.org, I only see my desktop actually connecting,. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Emacs, a maximalist approach to social media addiction
    An approach of digital maximalism should also let you organise incoming and outgoing information (on software that you run and control). This is what [Emacs](https://emacs.org) is doing. If you're missing _e.g._ the adrenaline of social media, Emacs can help for that by letting you insert academic references into lengthy, inflammatory, but informed, nuanced, and articulated Org-mode documents. It's actually much... Source: about 1 year ago
  • Best resources for chiropractic research?
    If you’re interested in actually downloading, reading, and collecting research papers, I highly recommend Zotero. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Zotero on Chromebook
    Has anyone managed to make Zotero work on their Chromebook? I have a Lenovo Chromebook and I've not been able to make it work. I can't access any of the PDF attachments on zotero.org or install the programme. I would appreciate any suggestions you may have. Source: over 1 year ago
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Open Library mentions (263)

  • MLIS books available digitally?
    Check out https://openlibrary.org. You can search ´library science’, librarian’, etc, and something should come up. Just select the ‘ebooks’ option to search for items within the collection. And you can narrow the search by subject, etc. Source: 6 months ago
  • NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month
    Right now I'm in the middle of the chicken and the egg problem where we don't have enough authors cataloging their publications and b/c of that obviously readers are not interested in using the site. I've gone back and forth with taking Open Libray's [0] catalog as that would at least flesh out our collection of books but then I'd have to deal with verifying authors to accounts so they can access their books.... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • is there any way to read books for free?
    Here's one: https://openlibrary.org/. Source: 7 months ago
  • YSK: You can access many old and out of print hiking books from the Internet Archive's Open Library
    The Internet Archive runs what they call the Open Library, which is a unique concept on the traditional library. You can sign-up with minimal details and digitally check out many scanned books from libraries all over the world. The only caveat is that almost all of the books are older editions - ones that would be impossible to find locally. It's great if you're looking for old routes, a look back in time, details... Source: 7 months ago
  • Searching for a pharmacy book
    I want to clarify that I'm a non-US citizen, so accessing physical copies from US libraries or buying it from Amazon might not be feasible for me. To give you some context, my personal research was guided by the wiki section of r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH (https://www.reddit.com/r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH/wiki/reading/). I've conducted research using various online resources, including the Ebook & Open Source/Access Libraries... Source: 8 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Zotero and Open Library, you can also consider the following products

Mendeley - Easily organize your papers, read & annotate your PDFs, collaborate in private or open groups, and securely access your research from everywhere.

Archive.org - Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies...

Qiqqa - Qiqqa is a free research and reference management software. It can be used in many organizational projects from the academic to the personal to the business endeavor. Read more about Qiqqa.

Z-Lib - ZLibraryPart of Z-Library project. The world's largest ebook library.

JabRef - Graphical Java application for managing bibtex (. bib) databases.‎JabRef · ‎JabRef Help · ‎JabRef | Blog · ‎OpenOffice/LibreOffice .

ManyBooks.net - Thousands of free ebooks, pre-formatted for reading on your computer, smartphone, iPod, or e-reading device - ePUB, Kindle, eReader, PDF, Plucker, iSilo, Doc, RTF, Mobipocket, Newton Paperback, and zTXT ebooks ready to go!