Wikipedia:COinS
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ContextObjects in Spans (COinS) is a method of embedding latent OpenURL ContextObjects in web pages. This allows client software to retrieve bibliographic metadata and to use an OpenURL resolver to find a mediated link. A principal advantage of using COinS, rather than giving a static OpenURL, is that the client can determine which resolver to use. This allows, for instance, searching for a copy of a book in one's own library.
Use of COinS outside of Wikipedia is fairly rare. Since some time between 2017 and 2025, the specification website is no longer live, and needs to be accessed through the Wayback Machine.[1]
COinS have been added to various parts of Wikipedia. They are basically just a chunk of bibliographic information stored in a way that machines can read. This has two applications:
- The information can be converted into a full OpenURL and resolved by a local OpenURL resolver.
- The information can be stored by bibliographic tools like Zotero.[2] The tool can download the bibliographic information from an article into a personal library for future research and retrieval.
- Zotero also has Wikipedia export,[3] which allows references to be dragged into a Wikipedia edit box, where they will appear formatted as Wikipedia citation templates.
So far, COinS have been added to:
- Wikipedia:Book sources – just contains the ISBN
- Many citation templates and infoboxes – see: Category:Templates generating COinS
- MediaWiki:Citethispage-content – generated when you click Cite this article; contains information for citing Wikipedia itself in other documents
Template
[edit]For use on templates generating COinS:
{{UF-COinS}}
It adds pages to the above category.
Templates needing COinS
[edit]COinS could, and should, be added to these templates:
COinS in citation templates
[edit]The COinS keys used in most Citation Style 1 templates are listed at Module talk:Citation/CS1/COinS.
For example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
{{cite book |last=Bloggs |first=Fred |editor-first=John |editor-last=Doe |title=Big Compilation Book with Many Chapters and Distinct Chapter Authors |publisher=Book Publishers |date=January 1, 2001 |pages=100–110 |chapter=Chapter 2: The History of the Bloggs Family |isbn=978-1-234-56789-7}} |
Bloggs, Fred (January 1, 2001). "Chapter 2: The History of the Bloggs Family". In Doe, John (ed.). Big Compilation Book with Many Chapters and Distinct Chapter Authors. Book Publishers. pp. 100–110. ISBN 978-1-234-56789-7. |
Which renders the following HTML:
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000013-QINU`"'<cite id="CITEREFBloggs2001" class="citation book cs1">Bloggs, Fred (January 1, 2001). "Chapter 2: The History of the Bloggs Family". In Doe, John (ed.). ''Big Compilation Book with Many Chapters and Distinct Chapter Authors''. Book Publishers. pp. <span class="nowrap">100–</span>110. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/978-1-234-56789-7|<bdi>978-1-234-56789-7</bdi>]].</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Chapter+2%3A+The+History+of+the+Bloggs+Family&rft.btitle=Big+Compilation+Book+with+Many+Chapters+and+Distinct+Chapter+Authors&rft.pages=100-110&rft.pub=Book+Publishers&rft.date=2001-01-01&rft.isbn=978-1-234-56789-7&rft.aulast=Bloggs&rft.aufirst=Fred&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWikipedia%3ACOinS" class="Z3988"></span>
Picking out the COinS keys:
| Key | Data |
|---|---|
| rfr_id | info:sid/en.wikipedia.org: |
| rft.atitle | Big Compilation Book with Many Chapters and Distinct Chapter Authors |
| rft.au | Bloggs, Fred |
| rft.aufirst | Fred |
| rft.aulast | Bloggs |
| rft.btitle | Chapter 2: The History of the Bloggs Family |
| rft.date | 2001-01-01 |
| rft.genre | bookitem |
| rft.isbn | 978-1-234-56789-7 |
| rft.pages | 100-110 |
| rft.pub | Book Publishers |
| rft_val_fmt | info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:book |
Pollution
[edit] | This article is missing information about other cases in which the metadata gets polluted, e.g. chemical and math title renderings. The text would be more helpful if it illustrated some additional examples.. |
Incorrect data in fields can pollute the metadata. For example, adding all of the authors into the deprecated |authors= parameter:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
{{cite book |authors=Smith, John; Johnson, Joe; Green, Ethan |title=Big Compilation Book with Many Chapters and Distinct Chapter Authors |publisher=Book Publishers |date=January 1, 2001 |pages=100–110 |chapter=Chapter 2: The History of the Bloggs Family |isbn=978-1-234-56789-7}} |
"Chapter 2: The History of the Bloggs Family". Big Compilation Book with Many Chapters and Distinct Chapter Authors. Book Publishers. January 1, 2001. pp. 100–110. ISBN 978-1-234-56789-7. |
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-0000001E-QINU`"'<cite class="citation book cs1">"Chapter 2: The History of the Bloggs Family". ''Big Compilation Book with Many Chapters and Distinct Chapter Authors''. Book Publishers. January 1, 2001. pp. <span class="nowrap">100–</span>110. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/978-1-234-56789-7|<bdi>978-1-234-56789-7</bdi>]].</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Chapter+2%3A+The+History+of+the+Bloggs+Family&rft.btitle=Big+Compilation+Book+with+Many+Chapters+and+Distinct+Chapter+Authors&rft.pages=100-110&rft.pub=Book+Publishers&rft.date=2001-01-01&rft.isbn=978-1-234-56789-7&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWikipedia%3ACOinS" class="Z3988"></span> <span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{[[Template:cite book|cite book]]}}</code>: </span><span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment">Unknown parameter <code class="cs1-code">|authors=</code> ignored ([[Help:CS1 errors#parameter_ignored|help]])</span>[[Category:CS1 errors: unsupported parameter|ω]]
This would pollute the metadata, therefore the citation template suppresses the generation of metadata for |authors=, thereby omitting vital citation data from being submitted.
| Key | Data |
|---|---|
| rft.au | Smith, John; Johnson, Joe; Green, Ethan |
| rft.aufirst | not used |
| rft.aulast | Smith, John; Johnson, Joe; Green, Ethan |
See also
[edit]- The planned citation microformat
References
[edit]- ^ Tan, Hao (11 November 2025). "Making Research Easier to Save: A Guide to Zotero Integration for Academic Websites". Center For Digital Humanities@Princeton. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ "Zotero and Wikipedia / Wikidata". Zotero.
- ^ "Zotero & Wikipedia: Perfect Together". Zotero.