> Chicago Manual is a great style, but it's also a complex mess, with something > like 8 layers of nested groups. I really wouldn't use it as a model.
Out of curiosity, how much of this is down to the inherent requirements of the style itself vs. the gradual evolution of the style as CSL was developed? Regards, Rob. On 19 September 2012 17:28, Sebastian Karcher <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Franzika, > > just some brief additions: > - As for "good CSL" I want to echo what the others said: Prefer groups over > affixes and use macros extensively. One other point: If you're working of an > existing style, don't assume that it's perfect. Many styles on the > repository are only so-so. > > - Example styles - APA and Vancouver are pretty good (though not perfect). > Elsevier's Harvard is nice because it's pretty clean and it's a very simple > style. > Chicago Manual is a great style, but it's also a complex mess, with > something like 8 layers of nested groups. I really wouldn't use it as a > model. > > Where I somewhat disagree is that coding by hand is preferable. I think > teaching how to work the visual editor effectively might be more useful and > lend itself better to spread the word and the code it puts out is pretty > clean. > I'll include a part on CSL in my Zotero workshops this fall and what I'll do > is to give a general overview over the way CSL styles are built up, but then > focus on using the editor, which still requires a good understanding of the > underlying mechanics, but no attention to syntax. > > What I like about the editor is that it will do a lot of things right > automatically - e.g. you don't have to worry about most of the conventions > for the info section - and that you don't have to remember/look-up all the > terminology (is it given-name-disambiguation-rule or > name-disambiguation-rule? is the value "by-cite" "minimal" or something > else? etc.) - if you code dozens of styles that's not a problem, but with > casual contributors that's a very real issue. Also, the visual editor saves > the style correctly in utf-8, indented correctly, and with a .csl extension, > another set of issues you don't have to worry about. It doesn't validate, > though, so careful with that. > It does have a code editor that works pretty nicely, too - very similar to > the Zotero test panel - if you want to work with the code directly. > > If you're interested, some overview styles on CSL by me are at the bottom of > this Prezi: > http://prezi.com/9xyzzycsyx4a/zotero-ecosystem/ > > Hope that helps, > Sebastian > > > > > > On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 7:45 AM, Franziska Heimburger > <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hello everyone, >> >> I have come to source people's ideas for a 'codesprint' I have suggested >> for next week's THATCamp Paris. The potted description in French is here >> http://barcamp.org/w/page/54813952/Codesprint%20et%20Booksprint%2027-28%20septembre%20%28cliquer%20ici%29 >> , but the general idea is to explain the basics of csl style language and >> then see how many styles we can turn out for French humanities and social >> sciences. This takes up the initiative explained here >> http://www.boiteaoutils.info/p/csl-france-styles-pour-zotero.html and hosted >> here https://trello.com/board/csl-france/4e8f4ee92adc2a00009616d3 which >> never really took off. >> >> I originally suggested this a long time ago and then started wondering >> whether it was still a good idea when I saw the progress that had been made >> on the visual style editor. In the end I decided to maintain the codesprint, >> including actual code, because I reckon with the fairly tech-literate public >> at the THATCamp it makes sense and it would be an excellent opportunity to >> get more good French styles into the repository. >> >> So far my plan is to assemble links to all the available documentation on >> the page mentioned above with the necessary explanations in French, to start >> the codesprint with a walk-through of adapting an existing style (located >> using the visual editor tool), while explaining the structure of csl-styles. >> I may well produce a very basic style with in-line comments in French >> explaining what happens at each point. >> >> So, this is where my questions come in : >> >> has anyone ever held a similar initiative - and have any useful hints to >> share? >> What guidelines for good csl-practice would you want to teach a bunch of >> beginners? >> finally, more specifically, when writing French styles, I got used to >> including codes like   for non-breaking spaces and è for รจ - in >> good part because I got tired of people opening/saving styles on different >> operating systems and breaking accented character encodings. I remember that >> being discouraged at some point on this list. What are people's opinions on >> this? >> >> I'd be very grateful for any advice you might have. >> Thanks in advance, >> Franziska Heimburger >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> Live Security Virtual Conference >> Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and >> threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions >> will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware >> threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ >> _______________________________________________ >> xbiblio-devel mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xbiblio-devel >> > > > > -- > ------ > Sebastian Karcher > Ph.D. Candidate > Department of Political Science > Northwestern University > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Live Security Virtual Conference > Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and > threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions > will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware > threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ > _______________________________________________ > xbiblio-devel mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xbiblio-devel > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ xbiblio-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xbiblio-devel
