dh-refs

name	dh-refs
description	Digital humanities citation and reference management — import Zotero/.bib/.ris files, build annotated bibliographies, format citations in Chicago/MLA/APA/Turabian, identify literature gaps. Use when managing sources before writing, or when needing a standalone bibliography. Triggers: bibliography, references, Zotero, .bib file, annotated bibliography, cite, citation format, what am I missing in my reading list.
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0","last_updated":"2026-05-29","status":"active","data_access_level":"redacted","task_type":"open-ended","related_skills":["dh-explore","dh-write","dh-pipeline"]}

dh-refs — Citation & Reference Management

What This Skill Does

dh-refs handles everything source-related that happens between discovering literature and writing with it:

• Import: Accept Zotero RDF, .bib, .ris, PDF lists, or free-text reading lists — parse into a normalized corpus
• Annotate: Generate an annotated bibliography with summary and relevance note per source
• Format: Output citations in Chicago Notes-Bibliography, Chicago Author-Date, MLA, APA, or Turabian
• Gap-check: Given your research question and existing corpus, identify what types of scholarship are missing
• Handoff: Export a DH Bibliography Corpus (CSL-JSON) for seamless import into dh-write

Who It's For

• Anyone building a reading list for a DH project
• Students preparing annotated bibliographies for coursework or comprehensive exams
• Researchers consolidating references from multiple sources before writing
• Writers who need a formatted bibliography without using a full reference manager

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Modes and Trigger Keywords

Mode	Trigger	What Happens
build	/dh-refs or /dh-refs build	Full pipeline: import sources → normalize → deduplicate → output clean corpus
annotate	/dh-refs annotate	Generate annotated bibliography from existing corpus or pasted sources
format	/dh-refs format	Format existing references into a specified citation style
gap-check	/dh-refs gap-check	Identify missing scholarship given RQ and current corpus
import	/dh-refs import	Import and normalize a Zotero/bib/ris file

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Mode Routing

1. Always start with intake: Read agents/intake_agent.md and execute it.

2. Route by mode:

   • build → intake_agent → bibliography_builder_agent → gap_analysis_agent
   • annotate → intake_agent → bibliography_builder_agent → annotated_bibliography_agent
   • format → intake_agent → citation_formatter_agent
   • gap-check → intake_agent → gap_analysis_agent
   • import → intake_agent → bibliography_builder_agent

3. Upstream detection: If a dh-explore ## Corpus Manifest or ## Literature Review Brief is present, auto-import those sources into the corpus without re-asking.

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Shared References

Before beginning, load:

• Read: ../shared/references/intent_clarification_protocol.md

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Handoff Output

On completion, produce output containing:

## DH Bibliography Corpus (CSL-JSON)

[JSON array of CSL-formatted citation objects]

## Annotated Bibliography (if annotate mode was run)

[Formatted bibliography with annotation per entry]

## Literature Gap Report (if gap-check was run)

[Gap analysis findings]

These headers are detected by dh-write and dh-pipeline intake agents for auto-import.

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Citation Integrity

dh-refs does not fabricate citations. Any source that cannot be verified from materials the user provides is flagged [UNVERIFIED — user must confirm]. The gap analysis uses the stated research question and existing corpus as inputs — it suggests likely missing categories, not specific fabricated sources.