Can we #IndieWeb Google Scholar? #HigherEd

So during my (ongoing) microformats crash course I have styled many citations. Writing an APA citation in html with proper markup takes time. A lot of time when you write a lot of citations.

While I would consider a canonical link back to to a piece listed or displayed on an author’s website as legit the academic machine does not (Do miss the retrieve date. I used to always use holidays to make me look like the biggest thinkerer out there).

So we need a solution.

I commented that I see all the talk about parsers but I want a reverse one to build citations. The more I learn about microformats the easier I can conceptualize how building blocks can be used by everyone with a bit of javascript. No way I could get folks to start sharing and remixing plain html courses and syllabi given the time it takes to write an h-cite. I would need to get a graduate assistant.I don’t have any (want the job…will talk).

Martijn said if I could map out how a tool could work he could probably build something.

Here is my idea. You go to Google Scholar. You search for a citation and then you click on the ” icon to copy the citation.

Then once you click on that icon you can click on the BibTex citation below:

That will leave you with this:

@article{hegarty2015attributes,
  title={Attributes of open pedagogy: A model for using open educational resources},
  author={Hegarty, Bronwyn},
  journal={Educational Technology},
  volume={4},
  pages={3--13},
  year={2015}
}

And that is all you need. I imagine a little bit of javascript with a pull down menu for APA, MLA, or Chicago (throw in Harvard and Vancouver if you want).

Be nice if this tool also kept a record of how many times something is cited even possibly where it lands using webmentions.

So If I select APA it would spit out:

<p class="h-cite"><span class="p-author h-card">Hegarty, Brownyn </span> <time class="dt-published">(2015)</time>. <span class="p-name">Attributes of open pedagogy: A model for using open educational resources}</span>. <span class="p-publication"> <em>Educational Technology, 4</em>3-13 </span></p>

If i select MLA I would get

<p class="h-cite"><span class="p-author h-card">Hegarty, Brownyn. </span><span class="p-name">"Attributes of open pedagogy: A model for using open educational resources"</span>. <span class="p-publication"> <em>Educational Technology, 4</em><time class="dt-published">(2015):</time> 3-13 </span>. </p>

MLA messes it up a bit because the year falls into the p-publication. Not sure if that breaks anythign but it kind of gels with the philosophy. APA puts emphasis on dates because currency matters in science. MLA puts emphasis on names because authors matter. I am almost tempted to remove the time class in MLA but would want to consult with digital humanities folks.

If I select Chicago I would Get

<p class="h-cite"><span class="p-author h-card">Hegarty, Brownyn. </span><span class="p-name">"Attributes of open pedagogy: A model for using open educational resources"</span>. <span class="p-publication"> <em>Educational Technology 4</em><time class="dt-published">(2015):</time> 3-13 </span>. </p>

Can’t see the difference? It’s there. A comma. Yes one comma. Citations stink. Like I said a canonical link as citation is my dream but we are way off from a digital utopia. Until then I want to help us make using microformats and webmentions as easy as possible for open scholars.

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