A few weeks ago we announced a new series that would help you get set up in Zotero, a free reference manager that enables you to collect, organize, cite and share research. As a follow-up to the first blogpost, we will take you through the next steps on how to collect and organize references in Zotero.
Collecting references
There are many ways to gather references in Zotero. We will explain the three main possibilities to do this in the desktop app.
- The first possible way to add a reference is to enter it manually. This will probably feel familiar for those who are not used to working with a reference manager, but it can be more time-consuming than the other options. To add a reference manually, click on ‘New item’ (
) > choose the type of reference you want to add > manually fill in all the information in the right-hand pane. If you have a file on your computer, you can also add the reference via drag and drop to Zotero. - The easiest way to add a reference is via an identifier. Zotero can search for relevant information online via identifiers such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), or others. You can locate this information on the title page of an academic article or, for a book, on the back cover next to the barcode or on the page with the copyright information. Additionally, ISBN numbers are available on publishers’ websites or anywhere e-books are sold. Click on ‘add item(s) by identifier’(
)> type or paste the identifier > press enter. All the metadata is automatically added to the reference. This is a quicker and often more exhaustive way of adding a reference compared to adding it manually. A handy default feature is that Zotero automatically downloads any attachments it finds online. If an article is Open Access, Zotero will download the pdf. The blue dot next to the reference indicates there is a file attached. To open the file, click on the reference and the link will appear. If you prefer to save your PDF files in a different location, you can disable the automatic download feature in the general preferences menu. - The third way to add a reference to Zotero is by using the Zotero connector. Zotero can pull citation metadata about sources directly from web pages into the Zotero desktop app. If you have downloaded the Zotero connector, you should find the Zotero button in your browser (often in the top right corner). It should say ‘Save to Zotero’. Click on the icon and the reference will appear in your Library. This works with academic publications and other types of sources, including standalone PDFs, websites and social media. Zotero will also add the pdf or a web page snapshot to the reference as an attachment.
As you get more familiar with Zotero you will learn of more advanced ways to add references via structured data formats such as BibTex. Want to know how to do this? Keep an eye on our blog because there is a good chance a future blogpost will guide you through it!
Organizing references
All the references you collect will be saved in your Library. To keep your research structured and clear, Zotero offers multiple ways to organize your references.
- The first is by creating Collections or folders. Click on ‘New collection (
) and give the collection a name. To view which collections a given reference is in, you can select the reference in the main viewing pane, then push the control key (Windows), the option key (Mac) or the alt key (Linux), and the relevant collections will be highlighted. Any references that have not been subdivided into a collection will appear in ‘Unfiled items’. Sometimes you might accidentally add the same reference to Zotero multiple times. If this happens, you will be able to locate these references in the tab called ‘Duplicate Items’. If you want, you can choose to merge your duplicates here. By managing duplicate items, you are able to ensure that the Zotero plug-in for Word will function properly and your bibliographies will be correctly formatted and accurate. Additionally, it prevents any confusion when using the note function for taking research notes. - Tags are a useful way to assign keywords to a reference and group them together. Select a reference > go to the ‘Tags’ tab on in the right pane > click ‘Add’. An item can have as many tags as necessary. Tags appear in de bottom left pane. If you click on a tag, you will see all the references connected with this tag. By default, tags will also be assigned when you import references into Zotero, but this feature can be disabled in the general preferences if you prefer working with your own customized tagging system. If you want to go one step further, you can also color-code your tags by right clicking on a tag in the tag pane in the bottom left and then selecting ‘Assign color’. The color you assign to a tag will show up to the left of the reference when viewing your references in the main panel. You can also see the color-coded tags when viewing the tags for a particular reference.
- You can link different references together with the related references This can be used to indicate which references are cited by that item. Click on the reference > go to the tab ‘Related’ in the right pane > ‘Add’ > choose the reference you want to link with > click ‘ok’.
- The ‘Notes’ feature allows you to add a text note as an attachment to a reference. Select the reference > go to the ‘Notes’ tab > Add > type out your note. Notes can also be added by right clicking the reference in the main viewing pane and selecting ‘add note’ or by clicking the note button (
) on the top center menu. If you use the note feature to take research notes, it is helpful to know that these research notes can be exported in PDF form. To do so, right click on the reference in the main viewing panel and select ‘Generate report from item’. This will give you an overview of the reference including the full reference information, the tags you have assigned (if any), and the notes you have taken that are connected to this item. This is not only an excellent feature if you prefer to work both digitally and in analog form, but also if you would like to take periodic back-ups of the research notes you have created in the Zotero platform.
Do you want to experiment with collecting and gathering references in Zotero? We have the perfect place for that! Visit our own Zotero group: the Artes Digital Scholarship Community! We have created a Sandbox folder for you to experiment to your heart’s content. This group is packed with information on digital scholarship, and we post regular updates on new resources. You are very welcome to join the community or browse through the information we have collected.
