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At least with Zotero Version 6, you could have just selected all your PDFs and drag-n-dropped them into the interface.

Like another poster here, trusting an LLM with my reference database -- the ultimate source of truth -- is not a step I'd be willing to take. All it takes is a single hallucinated reference, and your career would be forever tainted. It's not worth the risk.

Sadly, Zotero seems to have removed this killer import feature in later versions, which is the reason I keep using version 6. It feels like later versions have been a route to dumbing-down the interface, prioritising simplicity (and an ultra-low-contrast interface) at the expense of functionality. (If you can still drag-n-drop PDFs straight in with the new versions, someone please let me know?)

by bayindirh5 hours ago|

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I still drag and drop PDFs in Zotero 7. It's less finicky then v6, even. The trick is to drop them to root of the tree on the left. Not to the middle of the interface.

by btrettel5 hours ago|

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Drag-and-drop of the PDF file worked for me in Zotero 9 (latest version). I never used this feature before. This would be greatly preferred to my earlier suggestion to get a LLM to generate a list of DOIs.

by mercacona5 hours ago|

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I drag-drop PDFs and ePubs, read PDFs and ePubs, and sync mobile with laptop, etc.

by btrettel6 hours ago|

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> First I used Claude Code to generate all the BibTex files for the PDFs

I think this has an unnecessary risk of hallucinated bibliographic data. For anyone doing something similar in the future, it would be more reliable to make a LLM generate a list of DOIs and have Zotero import the DOIs.

by bayindirh5 hours ago|

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Using a non-deterministic machine on something which needs to be pretty accurate and precise looks like playing Russian roulette with one's academic integrity.

It's not my cup of vodka, to be sure.

by freehorse3 hours ago|

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And moreover, something already mostly solved algorithmically. Eg in zotero you can drag and drop files and it generates a reference based on the metadata as long as that is enough (somebody mentions it is not possible in newer versions, I use the latest version and it works fine).

Each one can choose their own tools of course, but we often see llms shown as solutions to something presented as unsolvable before, while it already was pretty amenable to normal tools.

by bayindirh3 hours ago|

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> but we often see llms shown as solutions to something presented as unsolvable before, while it already was pretty amenable to normal tools.

I see that as a symptom of being intellectually lazy, or not knowing the value in mastering a tool via deliberate use over time.

Once one invests the required time to use a tool properly, they can reap way more benefits from said tool when compared to jumping tools at minute's notice.