Chinese to Zotero Import Skill

A Claude skill for importing Chinese language works into Zotero with proper pinyin transliteration and translations following Chicago Manual of Style guidelines.

Overview

This skill helps you create properly formatted Zotero entries for Chinese language sources by generating RIS files that include:

Pinyin transliteration (required) - using Library of Congress romanization practices
Original Chinese characters (optional) - included directly in the same fields
English translations (recommended) - in square brackets for titles

The skill follows Chicago Manual of Style guidelines (Sections 11.89-99) for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages.

Example Output

Given this Chinese reference:

華林甫, "清代以來三峽地區水旱災害的初步硏究", 中國社會科學, 1999年第1期, 第168-179頁

The skill generates this RIS file:

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hua, Linfu 華林甫
TI  - Qingdai yilai Sanxia diqu shuihan zaihai de chubu yanjiu 清代以來三峽地區水旱災害的初步硏究 [A preliminary study of floods and droughts in the Three Gorges region since the Qing dynasty]
T2  - Zhongguo shehui kexue 中國社會科學
PY  - 1999
IS  - 1
SP  - 168
EP  - 179
ER  -

Which produces this Chicago-style citation:

Hua Linfu 華林甫. "Qingdai yilai Sanxia diqu shuihan zaihai de chubu yanjiu" 清代以來三峽地區水旱災害的初步硏究 [A preliminary study of floods and droughts in the Three Gorges region since the Qing dynasty]. Zhongguo shehui kexue 中國社會科學 1 (1999): 168–79.

Supported Document Types

Journal articles
Books
Government documents (most common use case)
Web resources

Installation

For Claude Code

Clone or download this repository
Copy the skill/ folder to your Claude Code skills directory:
```
cp -r skill ~/.claude/skills/chinese-zotero-import
```
Restart Claude Code to load the skill

Alternative: Direct Download

Download just the skill/ folder from this repository
Rename it to chinese-zotero-import and place it at ~/.claude/skills/chinese-zotero-import/
Restart Claude Code

Usage

Invoke the skill when you have a Chinese reference to import
Provide the Chinese bibliographic information (text, PDF, or citation)
The skill will:
- Extract metadata from your source
- Generate pinyin transliterations
- Request or confirm English translations
- Create a properly formatted RIS file
Import the RIS file into Zotero (File > Import)

Features

Automatic transliteration: Converts Chinese characters to pinyin following Library of Congress standards
Format validation: Ensures all fields meet Chicago style requirements
Multiple document types: Handles journal articles, books, government documents, and web resources
Preserves original text: Includes Chinese characters in the same fields as transliterations
Translation support: Helps generate or confirm English translations for titles

Field Format

The skill formats bibliographic fields as follows:

Author: [Transliteration] [Chinese characters]
- Example: Hua, Linfu 華林甫
Title: [Transliteration] [Chinese characters] [English translation]
- Example: Qingdai yilai... 清代以來... [A preliminary study...]
Journal/Publisher: [Transliteration] [Chinese characters]
- Example: Zhongguo shehui kexue 中國社會科學

Requirements

Claude Code or Claude Desktop
Zotero (for importing the generated RIS files)

Chicago Manual of Style Compliance

This skill follows the guidelines in the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, Sections 11.89-99 for Chinese language sources.

Key requirements met:

Pinyin transliteration is always included (required)
English translations in square brackets (recommended for Western audiences)
Original Chinese characters preserved (optional but supported)
Proper capitalization and spacing in transliterations
Standard bibliographic field ordering

chinese-zotero-import