I won't give complete answer, but some suggestions (it would have to be really worked on to make it complete).
There are tools:
The problem is that xml2bib needs a very special format called Metadata Object Description Schema: MODS.
Below, I give example file of my thesis .bib bibliography, converted to the correct .xml MODS format by bib2xml and coverted back to a .bib file by xml2bib. It illustrates how complicated the XML format is:
I apologize for the long file listings but I don't have a reliable online file storage.
@book{beardon,
AUTHOR = {Beardon, Alan F.},
TITLE = {The geometry of discrete groups},
SERIES = {Graduate Texts in Mathematics},
VOLUME = {91},
NOTE = {Corrected reprint of the 1983 original},
PUBLISHER = {Springer-Verlag},
ADDRESS = {New York},
YEAR = {1995},
PAGES = {xii+337},
ISBN = {0-387-90788-2},
XXMRCLASS = {22E40 (11F06 20H15 30F35 57N10)},
XXMRNUMBER = {1393195 (97d:22011)},
}
@article{ford,
AUTHOR = {Ford, Lester R.},
TITLE = {The fundamental region for a {F}uchsian group},
JOURNAL = {Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.},
FJOURNAL = {Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society},
VOLUME = {31},
YEAR = {1925},
NUMBER = {9-10},
PAGES = {531--539},
ISSN = {0002-9904},
XXMRCLASS = {Contributed Item},
XXMRNUMBER = {1561111},
DOI = {10.1090/S0002-9904-1925-04104-X},
URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9904-1925-04104-X},
}
@article{k:sr_rmg,
AUTHOR = {K{\r{u}}rka, Petr},
TITLE = {A symbolic representation of the real {M}\"obius group},
JOURNAL = {Nonlinearity},
FJOURNAL = {Nonlinearity},
VOLUME = {21},
YEAR = {2008},
NUMBER = {3},
PAGES = {613--623},
ISSN = {0951-7715},
CODEN = {NONLE5},
XXMRCLASS = {37F30 (37B10)},
XXMRNUMBER = {2396619 (2009j:37073)},
MRREVIEWER = {Jiri Fiser},
DOI = {10.1088/0951-7715/21/3/012},
URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0951-7715/21/3/012},
}
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<modsCollection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3">
<mods ID="beardon">
<titleInfo>
<title>The geometry of discrete groups</title>
</titleInfo>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Alan</namePart>
<namePart type="given">F</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Beardon</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<originInfo>
<issuance>monographic</issuance>
<dateIssued>1995</dateIssued>
<publisher>Springer-Verlag</publisher>
<place>
<placeTerm type="text">New York</placeTerm>
</place>
</originInfo>
<typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource>
<genre authority="marcgt">book</genre>
<relatedItem type="host">
<titleInfo>
<title>Graduate Texts in Mathematics</title>
</titleInfo>
</relatedItem>
<note>Corrected reprint of the 1983 original</note>
<identifier type="isbn">0-387-90788-2</identifier>
<identifier type="citekey">beardon</identifier>
<part>
<detail type="volume"><number>91</number></detail>
</part>
</mods>
<mods ID="ford">
<titleInfo>
<title>The fundamental region for a Fuchsian group</title>
</titleInfo>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Lester</namePart>
<namePart type="given">R</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Ford</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<originInfo>
<dateIssued>1925</dateIssued>
</originInfo>
<typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource>
<relatedItem type="host">
<titleInfo>
<title>Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.</title>
</titleInfo>
<originInfo>
<issuance>continuing</issuance>
</originInfo>
<genre authority="marcgt">periodical</genre>
<genre>academic journal</genre>
<identifier type="issn">0002-9904</identifier>
</relatedItem>
<identifier type="citekey">ford</identifier>
<identifier type="doi">10.1090/S0002-9904-1925-04104-X</identifier>
<location>
<url>http://dx.doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9904-1925-04104-X</url>
</location>
<part>
<date>1925</date>
<detail type="volume"><number>31</number></detail>
<detail type="number"><number>9-10</number></detail>
<extent unit="page">
<start>531</start>
<end>539</end>
</extent>
</part>
</mods>
<mods ID="k:sr_rmg">
<titleInfo>
<title>A symbolic representation of the real Möbius group</title>
</titleInfo>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Petr</namePart>
<namePart type="family">K\rurka</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<originInfo>
<dateIssued>2008</dateIssued>
</originInfo>
<typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource>
<relatedItem type="host">
<titleInfo>
<title>Nonlinearity</title>
</titleInfo>
<originInfo>
<issuance>continuing</issuance>
</originInfo>
<genre authority="marcgt">periodical</genre>
<genre>academic journal</genre>
<identifier type="issn">0951-7715</identifier>
</relatedItem>
<identifier type="citekey">k:sr_rmg</identifier>
<identifier type="doi">10.1088/0951-7715/21/3/012</identifier>
<location>
<url>http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0951-7715/21/3/012</url>
</location>
<part>
<date>2008</date>
<detail type="volume"><number>21</number></detail>
<detail type="number"><number>3</number></detail>
<extent unit="page">
<start>613</start>
<end>623</end>
</extent>
</part>
</mods>
</modsCollection>
@Book{beardon,
author="Beardon, Alan F.",
title="The geometry of discrete groups",
series="Graduate Texts in Mathematics",
year="1995",
publisher="Springer-Verlag",
address="New York",
volume="91",
note="Corrected reprint of the 1983 original",
isbn="0-387-90788-2"
}
@Article{ford,
author="Ford, Lester R.",
title="The fundamental region for a Fuchsian group",
journal="Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.",
year="1925",
volume="31",
number="9-10",
pages="531--539",
issn="0002-9904",
doi="10.1090/S0002-9904-1925-04104-X",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9904-1925-04104-X"
}
@Article{k:sr_rmg,
author="K{\backslash}rurka, Petr",
title="A symbolic representation of the real M{\"o}bius group",
journal="Nonlinearity",
year="2008",
volume="21",
number="3",
pages="613--623",
issn="0951-7715",
doi="10.1088/0951-7715/21/3/012",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0951-7715/21/3/012"
}
Now: The following is an input file with header and one bibliography item (containing for each field the filed name with abc...xyz dummy text). I believe that the output XML file could be converted into the MODS format, but I'm not sure how and it will be a lot of work. The why that I thought of is replacing each string of the form <Title> to the string of XML markups that stands before the Title in the correct format.
Book Id,Title,Author,Author l-f,Additional Authors,ISBN,ISBN13,My Rating,Average Rating,Publisher,Binding,Number of Pages,Year Published,Original Publication Year,Date Read,Date Added,Bookshelves,Bookshelves with positions,Exclusive Shelf,My Review,Spoiler,Private Notes,Read Count,Recommended For,Recommended By,Owned Copies,Original Purchase Date,Original Purchase Location,Condition,Condition Description,BCID
abcBook Idxyz,abcTitlexyz,abcAuthorxyz,abcAuthor l-fxyz,abcAdditional Authorsxyz,abcISBNxyz,abcISBN13xyz,abcMy Ratingxyz,abcAverage Ratingxyz,abcPublisherxyz,abcBindingxyz,abcNumber of Pagesxyz,abcYear Publishedxyz,abcOriginal Publication Yearxyz,abcDate Readxyz,abcDate Addedxyz,abcBookshelvesxyz,abcBookshelves with positionsxyz,abcExclusive Shelfxyz,abcMy Reviewxyz,abcSpoilerxyz,abcPrivate Notesxyz,abcRead Countxyz,abcRecommended
<row>
<Book_Id>abcBook Idxyz</Book_Id>
<Title>abcTitlexyz</Title>
<Author>abcAuthorxyz</Author>
<Author_l_f>abcAuthor l-fxyz</Author_l_f>
<Additional_Authors>abcAdditional Authorsxyz</Additional_Authors>
<ISBN>abcISBNxyz</ISBN>
<ISBN13>abcISBN13xyz</ISBN13>
<My_Rating>abcMy Ratingxyz</My_Rating>
<Average_Rating>abcAverage Ratingxyz</Average_Rating>
<Publisher>abcPublisherxyz</Publisher>
<Binding>abcBindingxyz</Binding>
<Number_of_Pages>abcNumber of Pagesxyz</Number_of_Pages>
<Year_Published>abcYear Publishedxyz</Year_Published>
<Original_Publication_Year>abcOriginal Publication Yearxyz</Original_Publication_Year>
<Date_Read>abcDate Readxyz</Date_Read>
<Date_Added>abcDate Addedxyz</Date_Added>
<Bookshelves>abcBookshelvesxyz</Bookshelves>
<Bookshelves_with_positions>abcBookshelves with positionsxyz</Bookshelves_with_positions>
<Exclusive_Shelf>abcExclusive Shelfxyz</Exclusive_Shelf>
<My_Review>abcMy Reviewxyz</My_Review>
<Spoiler>abcSpoilerxyz</Spoiler>
<Private_Notes>abcPrivate Notesxyz</Private_Notes>
<Read_Count>abcRead Countxyz</Read_Count>
<Recommended_For>abcRecommended Forxyz</Recommended_For>
<Recommended_By>abcRecommended Byxyz</Recommended_By>
<Owned_Copies>abcOwned Copiesxyz</Owned_Copies>
<Original_Purchase_Date>abcOriginal Purchase Datexyz</Original_Purchase_Date>
<Original_Purchase_Location>abcOriginal Purchase Locationxyz</Original_Purchase_Location>
<Condition>abcConditionxyz</Condition>
<Condition_Description>abcCondition Descriptionxyz</Condition_Description>
<BCID>abcBCIDxyz</BCID>
</row>
Best Answer
You can set up Jabref to automatically import a reference from Firefox into the current database, but it's somewhat arcane. Here is my solution under Linux:
1) Select Options -> Preferences -> Advanced -- and check "Listen for remote operation ..." I don't think it matters which port.
2) Create a small bash script (text file) named "jabref-import" that looks like this:
Replace "~/local/jabref/JabRef-2.8.1.jar" with the path to your Jabref .jar file on your machine. Or if you have a working executable called "jabref", you can replace everything before the "-i" with "jabref". Just make sure your executable accepts command-line options (mine didn't).
In Ubuntu 13.04, the following variant of the script works:
3) Make the file executable:
4) Make sure Jabref is already open. Go to Firefox, download a citation file. It could be a .bib or .ris or .ref or whatever. Select the "Open with..." option in the dialog, and select the jabref-import executable that you just made. The import dialog should pop up in Jabref with your citation.