Added to official ideas list at http://drupal.org/node/234692
As we all know, one of the most important functions of the Internet is sharing of information and while some of the information share may be of questionable value, there are huge numbers of research and educational institutions producing vast numbers of scholarly publications which, when shared in a free and open fashion, help to build the global knowledge base. That being said, each discipline of research tends to have different preferences for displaying references to their publications. Creating and maintaining hundreds of formating specifications is incredibly tedious so this is where CiteProc comes in.
This project will join a couple of other Open Source projects with Biblio, namely Zotero and CiteProc . CiteProc uses an XML file (CSL) to describe the output formating of the various bibliographic styles the problem however is there is currently no PHP version of CiteProc. What is the connection to Zotero you ask... well Zotero has implemented CiteProc in JavaScript and it uses CSL file for styling. They also maintain an open repository for these style files which could be accessed by this module to pick up new styles on the fly.
I have already started to port the Zotero JavaScript to PHP, and it's probably about half way there, so a student could pick this up and run with it for a few months and have a nice little project in the end.
I can see where this could lead to further opportunities in the future, like a tighter integration between Zotero and Drupal. Also the author of CSL format (Bruce D'Arcus) has been working towards an RDF specification for bibliographic material which will tie in nicely with D7s proposed use of RDF.
Both myself and Bruce could be co-mentors for this project.
Comments... Questions...

Comments
This would be great for Drupal
As somebody who has used Drupal in higher education and continues to promote it as a consultant I can say the impact of this project would rival Taxonomy in importance in Drupal's use in research in the social sciences.
+1 for this idea!
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Blog: Adding Understanding | Drupal Developer Search | Drupal Services: Brauer Ranch
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Blog: Joshua Brauer dot com
Sounds good. Could we write this up as a proposal?
Something like:
"The Biblio module does such and such and yadda yadda and is important to the smargenflargen use case because of the foodbybarbazzle that it does. (basically, "sell" the project and why it's interesting to a prospective student)
This project would entail implementing Zotero and CiteProc support to Biblio module. // Insert more description of what those things are and what they do, and why this would be important/cool to work on.
// Insert a sentence or two that discusses scope. How does a student know when this project is "done"?
Mentors: insert your drupal.org usernames here; make sure your contact forms are turned on
Difficulty: Easy/Medium/Hard
"
My only other concern is whether or not this would keep a student busy for 2 months, but it sounds like there are other areas this could spill into if we get someone extra keen who finishes up early.
Although I have make a start
Although I have make a start on this, there is still a long way to go with many potential pitfalls, so I don't think there is much worry about thumb twiddling here.
Ron.
Draft proposal; needs editing
The Bibliography module allows users to create and maintain bibliographic lists of publications (books, articles, etc.). Optionally, the full text of a publication can be included. The module is important for research institutions and other information providers who wish to use Drupal to create online document repository. This functionality is also useful to researchers and writers of all types, from high school students using mainstream media sources to scholars using peer-reviewed journals, to collect and organize complex lists of research sources. (To see the Bibliography module in action, visit the demonstration site.)
The Bibliography module currently allows users to format publication citations in a limited number of styles, including American Psychological Association (APA), Council of Science Editors (CSE) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In order to meet the needs of more disciplines, each of which has a different preferred citation format for publications, support needs to be extended to include as many citation formats as possible. This includes Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago Manual of Style and the legal Bluebook, to name but a few. (For a more detailed explanation of citation formats, see Citing Your Sources from the UC Berkeley Library.)
This project will entail two things: (1) porting CiteProc to PHP and including it in the bibliography module; and (2) integrating Zotero functionality into this configuration. CiteProc uses an XML file (CSL) to describe the output formating of the various bibliographic styles, however there is currently no PHP version of CiteProc. Zotero, on the other hand, has implemented CiteProc in JavaScript and uses the CSL file for styling. Zotero also provides an open repository for these style files which could be accessed by the Bibliography module to pick up new styles on the fly.
Porting of CiteProc to PHP is already underway. A student could continue this work, and within a couple of months complete the PHP implementation of all Zotero JavaScript and style files.
This project could lead to further opportunities in the future, including a tighter integration between Zotero and Drupal. Also the author of the CSL format (Bruce D'Arcus) has been working towards an RDF specification for bibliographic material which will tie in nicely with D7s proposed use of RDF.
Mentors: rjerome
Difficulty: Medium
Thanks Tom!
Thanks Tom for putting that together... Moving to the official list.
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Blog: Adding Understanding | Drupal Developer Search | Drupal Services: Brauer Ranch
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Blog: Joshua Brauer dot com
Yes, Thanks Tom!
I was out shoveling snow off roofs today so I haven't had a chance to check in today. We've had some 420 cm. (168 inches for the Americans) up here so far this year and the roofs are starting to buckle under the load :-(
Ron.
Great idea.
Hey. As an PhD student i can say, that it's a great idea, and it's worth to be a GSoC project. I'll check all specified links to organize my own ideas about it.
Think positive!!!
Fantastic!
As someone who works very closely with doctoral students using Zotero and has been helping them use Drupal for ages, this is one of the most talked about things in my close peer group.
I absolutely love this project idea.
How is this coming along
Any info would be great =)