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Zotero: A Free Reference Management Tool

Getting Started with Zotero

1. Zotero is a free Firefox plug-in. Download the plug-in by going to http://www.zotero.org and clicking on the red button.

2. When the Firefox browser is open, a small Zotero icon appears in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.  Click on the icon to open the Zotero window. The Zotero window opens in the lower half of the screen.

3. The Zotero window consists of three parts. The left section lists folders and tags. The middle section lists all records in your library.  The right section lists specific information about a highlighted record.

4. Adding items to your Zotero library is easy!  When you find a webpage, database article, book record, or other item that you would like to add to your Zotero folder, click on the icon (such as page, book, or newspaper) that appears in the address window. The icon appears to the right of the webpage address. If you want to add a whole page of entries (for example, a listing of 10 articles from a database), click on the folder icon to the right of the address. Choose the records you want to add and click OK.

 

5. Zotero imports information and subject terms, but it allows you to add your own notes, snapshots (both html and pdf snapshots) and links to articles, subject tags, and related citations.

6. To add an attachment, open the Attachments tab in the right section and choose ADD – TAKE SNAPSHOT OF CURRENT PAGE. To open the attachment, click on the + next to the article title in the middle section and then click on the camera icon. The icons that appear at the top of the page allow you to highlight and make annotations in your saved snapshots. This feature does not work for pdfs.

7. You can create a bibliography by selecting items or folders, right-clicking on these items, and choosing CREATE BIBLIOGRAPHY FROM SELECTED ITEM. Choose COPY TO CLIPBOARD to copy and paste the items directly into your bibliography. You will be given the option of choosing a formatting style, such as MLA or APA. Bibliographies may need to be checked for accuracy.

8. Finally, you can download a Zotero plug-in for Microsoft Word or Open Office that allows you to easily import references and format a bibliography while you are writing your paper. To download this plug-in, go to http://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_integration.

Portable Zotero

Zotero saves references to your hard drive. To change this, you must go to Preferences and change the location. Find out how to use portable Zotero at http://www.zotero.org/documentation/zotero_portable_solutions