Zotero User Guide

Getting things into Zotero

Zotero offers users a variety of ways to capture, import and archive item
information and fles. On this page you will learn how to collect information on
books, journal articles, and websites with a single click and then easily store
related PDFs, images, links, whole web pages and any other fles alongside that
information inside your Zotero library.

Automatically Capture Bibliographic Information From the Web

Perhaps the most important feature of Zotero is its ability to sense when you are
looking at an item (or items) on a web page. For instance, if you are looking at
the record for a book on an online library catalog, Zotero’s book icon will
appear in Firefox’s location bar (at the top of the browser window, where the
current web address, or URL, appears), like so:

Simply click on the book icon and Zotero will save all of the citation
information about that book into your library. (The Zotero pane does not have
to be open for this to work.) If you are looking at a group of items (e.g., a list of
search results from Google Scholar or LexisNexis), a folder will appear. Clicking
on the folder will produce a list of items with check boxes next to them; choose
the ones you want to save and Zotero will do the rest.

If you are currently working in a specifc collection (that is, a collection is

highlighted in the left column rather than “My Library”), the references will be
copied to that location as well as your overall library.
Zotero senses information through site translators. Zotero's translators should
work with most library catalogs, some popular websites such as Amazon and the
New York Times, and many gated databases. Just look for icons in the location
bar. The Zotero team will be adding support for additional sites over time. You
need not check back here for these extra translators; they will be automatically
added to your Zotero installation every so often.

Archiving Web Pages

To archive a page click the “Create New Item From Current Page” icon ( ).
This will archive a copy of the page in your library. To see the page as it was on
the day you captured it double click the snapshot icon associated with the fle,
as shown below.

Manually Adding Items

Zotero's automatic captures make it easy to work with web resources, but not
everything you need to use in your research is online. Zotero makes it easy to
manually add items as well.

Click on the green plus icon in the center column. Select the type of item you
want to create from the drop down menu. You can view more item types at the
bottom of the menu. If the options do not ft your item exactly, try to fnd the
kind of item that would contain the same felds. Once you select an item type a
blank item of that type will appear in your center column. You can then
manually enter the bibliographic information into the right column.

Click on any of the felds in the right column to begin entering your
information. If you have additional authors you can click on the + next to the
frst author to add additional felds. When you have fnished entering the
metadata you can drag in attachments.

Organizing and Annotating Items

Using Collections
Zotero allows you to organize your records into
collections. Each collection might correspond to a
research project or a specifc area of interest. Your
organized collection folders will be in the left
column of your Zotero pane, and the center
column will show the contents of those
collections. Unlike traditional fling systems
Zotero allows a single item to be in multiple
collections at the same time. In this sense your
collections are more like playlists in iTunes than
folders in a flling cabinet. This allows you to
organize the same item in different ways to suit
your needs.

“My Library” will always contain a master list of all of your records. If you delete
a record from “My Library” it will disappear completely from your collection.

Creating a New Collection

Click on the New Collection icon above the left column. You will be prompted
to title the collection. You can also add sub-collections within collections by
creating a new collection, then dragging it into a collection. You can then add
items to this collection, either by dragging them from the center column over to
the new collection, or by importing the item to Zotero while the collection is
open (highlighted).

Adding Items to Other Collections

Items can be added to other collections by dragging the item from the center
column to the desired collection folder in the left column. This does not
duplicate the item in “My Library”.

Renaming a Collection
Right-click on the collection (control-click on Mac) and select Rename
Collection from the drop-down menu. A dialog will prompt you to give the
collection a new name.

Using Tags
Tagging is an easy way to categorize items by attaching descriptive words to
them. You can tag your information with whatever relevant keyword or term you
would like associated with that given item. These tags allow you to sift through
your information in a personal way, by the categories that you deem relevant.
Adding Tags

To add a tag to an item simply select the tab in the right column and
hit the button. Then type your tag. Once you have added the tag you will
see it has also been added to the tag selector box in the left column.

Using the Tag Selector

Located in the bottom-left-hand corner of
the Zotero pane, the tag selector adds an
additional layer of information
management to complement the collection
and search systems. You can toggle the tag
selector in and out of view by clicking the
the show/hide tag selector button. The tag
selector updates its inventory from tags
you place on individual items in your
Library. By clicking on any of the tags, you
can flter the items within your Library,
collections and saved searches by as many
or as few tags as you like.

The tag selector defaults to showing all the tags on items in the current folder.
When you click on a given tag, the center column updates to display only the
items with that tag. You can select multiple tags to further refne the results in
the center column or click on a tag again to deselect it. To quickly fnd a tag in
the list, type part of its name in the Filter box; selected tags not matching what
you type remain selected, allowing you to quickly fnd and select multiple items.
It is also possible to click the “Deselect all” button to return the center column
to displaying all the items in the selected folder.

From this box you can also control the tags globally. By right-clicking on a tag
(or Control-clicking on the Mac) you can choose to rename a tag across all items
or delete it from all of the records it is attached to. You can also assign a tag to
multiple items at once by dragging items from the items pane onto tags in the
tag selector. This is where the “Display all tags” checkbox comes in handy: while
the tag selector normally only shows you tags on items in the current view,
clicking “Display all tags” causes tags not assigned to currently visible items to
appear in gray. You can then drag items onto one of the gray tags to assign it to
those items.

Automatic Tags
Note that some items that you save will come with tags already attached. If
Zotero detects classifcation information or other metadata as part of a catalog
record, it will, in some cases, import that information as a tag. For example,
OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) record subject headings become Zotero
tags. You can manage these automatic tags in the same way that you manage the
tags you add manually. It is possible, though, to exclude automatically added
tags from the tag selector or to prevent them from being imported in the frst
place.

Finding and Searching In Zotero

Zotero provides a variety of options to ensure that you are never more than a
few seconds away from the exact information you need. In this document you
will learn about Zotero's sorting and searching functionality. With just a few
clicks you can sort any of your collections by what ever criteria you need. You
can also quickly execute basic searches through your entire collection. Beyond
these two quick options you can also set up advanced searches to make much
more refned searches through your entire collection. You can also view
screencasts detailing these functions.

Sorting
Zotero's sorting functions make it easy to quickly fnd items in your library and
collections. If you prefer you can also watch the sorting screencast.

To sort items in a collection, click on any of the information categories at the

top of the middle column. For example, if you click on “Title,” all your items will
be sorted alphabetically by title. If you click on “Title” again, the
order will be reversed. Similarly, if you click on “Creator,” your
items will be sorted alphabetically by creator, and if you click
“Creator,” again the order will be reversed.

To sort by other categories, you can click on the icon in the top
right corner of your center column. You will then see the
dropdown menu illustrated below. Check off any additional
categories you would like to use for sorting. They will now
appear in the center column and you can click on them to sort
in just the same way you did with “Title” and “Creator”.

Basic Search
Basic searches provide the quickest way to fnd items in your collection. Follow
the directions below or watch the basic search screencast to see how to make
best use of the Zotero's basic searches.
To start a search, click inside the search box at the top of the middle column
and start typing your search term. As you type, Zotero will reduce the total
number of items in the center column to only those that contain your search
term.

What Exactly Am I Searching Through?

With basic searches, Zotero combs through all of your data for results. For
example, a basic search for 1979 will return a wide variety of items. The search
would return books with 1979 in their title, items published in 1979, items
tagged 1979, and websites that have 1979 somewhere in their full text. In short,
basic searches search through all your data.

Taking Notes
Most users don’t like to just read and gather sources; they like to take notes on
them. We’ve all got little scribbles in the margins of books, on post-its, and on
notepads (real and virtual). Zotero makes it easy to keep all those annotations,
jots, and notes in one place, and all searchable. The ability to record notes about
library items is essential to conducting useful research. Notes allow you to relate
items to your own studies, write down brainstorms and highlight important
passages. You may agree, then, that the most obvious way to organize notes in
Zotero is as attachments to library items.

Let's say you have Michelangelo's “The Last Judgment” in your Zotero library
and wish to make a note about the location of the artist's self-portrait hidden in
the fresco. Obviously, this isn't the sort of thing where you can just scribble in
the margins; the Sistine Chapel would probably object and it wouldn't be very
portable, anyway. To create an attached note, frst select “The Last Judgment” in
Zotero's center column. In the right column, you would then click on the Notes
tab, then the Add button.
This will open the note editor in a separate window. Simply enter in your note
and it will be saved as you type, so you may close the window whenever you
wish. You may have noticed that, back in the Zotero pane, your note has been
added to the Notes tab for “The Last Judgement” and, in the center column, as
an associated child item. If you wish to view the note again, you need only click
on the note in either of these places. By default, they will open within the right
column in Zotero, though they can be opened in a separate window by pressing
the appropriate button at the bottom of said column.

Zotero uses the rich-text TinyMCE editor, so your formatting options are nearly
limitless. A variety of features are available through the editor's toolbars and a
still greater number can be used by editing the note's HTML code directly.

Standalone Notes
If, however, your annotation does not relate directly to any item in your library,
it is possible to create a standalone note by clicking the New Standalone Note
button in the Zotero toolbar. These will behave just like a regular note, only
they will appear by themselves in your collections, not associated with another
library item.

Grabbing Text From Webpages

Because new research often incorporates pre-existing work, Zotero makes it
easy for you to migrate quotable material from a web-based source into your
notes. Highlight the relevant text, right-click (ctrl-click on the Mac) to open a
pop-up menu, and select “Create Zotero Item and Note from Selection”. This
will create a new library item with the selected text as an attached note. In this
way, Zotero facilitates transcription as well as annotation.

Tags and Related Items

As with any other item in Zotero, notes, both regular and standalone, make full
use of the tagging and related item features. These appear at the bottom of the
notes editor and behave just as they do with other items.

Creating Bibliographies
Drag and Drop Quick Copy
If you want to quickly add references to a paper, email, or blog post, then
Zotero's Drag and Drop Quick Copy is probably the best way to go. Simply
select references in the center column and drag them into any text feld. Zotero
will automatically create a numbered and alphabetized bibliography for you. To
confgure your quick copy preferences, click the Actions menu (the gear icon)
and select Preferences. Within the Preferences pop-up window, select Export.
From this tab you can set your default export format, set up site specifc export
settings, and choose whether you want Zotero to include HTML tags in your
quick copy.

Right Click to Create Bibliography

To create a bibliography in Zotero, highlight one or more references and then
right-click (or control-click on Macs) to select “Create Bibliography from
Selected Item(s).” Then select a citation style for your bibliography format and
choose one of the following four ways to create your bibliography:

• Save as RTF will allow you to save the bibliography as a rich text fle.
• Save as HTML will allow you to save the bibliography as an HTML fle
for viewing in a web browser. This format will also embed metadata,
allowing other Zotero users viewing the document to capture
bibliographic information.
• Save to Clipboard will allow you to save the bibliography to your
clipboard to paste into any text feld.
• Print will send your bibliography straight to a printer.

Word Processor Integration

Zotero's Microsoft Word and OpenOffce plugins offer you the most control for
creating bibliographies. These plugins allow you to add in-text citations and
footnotes in addition to bibliographies.

Once the plugin is installed, you should see a row of icons in your Microsoft

Word toolbar. These four buttons allow you

to manage references in your Microsoft Word documents. If you do not see
them, try checking the “Templates and Add-ins” window. Select “Tools” from
the dropdown menu at the top of your screen, pull down to “Templates and
Add-ins,” and make sure that the box for Zotero.dot is checked.

When you would like to cite something from your collection click the frst
button, “Zotero Insert Citation” ( ). If this is the frst citation you have added
to the document the Document Preferences window will open. Chose the
bibliographic format you would like to use from the list and click OK.

Once you have chosen a format, the “Add Citation” window will pop up. Sort
through your collection in this window and select the item or items you would
like to cite. You can add the specifc page number in the text box at the bottom
of the window.

If you would like to preview the citation click on show editor the button. You
will then see the edit citation box at the bottom of the add citation window.

When you click “OK,” you should now see a properly formatted citation in your
document.

To generate a bibliography from all the items you have referenced, click the
“Zotero Insert Bibliography” button ( ).

The edit citation( ) and edit bibliography( ) buttons allow you to edit
citations and bibliographies you have already inserted into your documents.
Click inside a citation or bibliography and click either button to edit.
The ffth button, “Zotero Refresh” ( ) updates your references with any
changes in your Zotero collection. ( ) will open the Document Preferences
window again, allowing you to change the bibliographic style for the entire
document on the fy.

Zotero Frequently Asked Questions

How do I back up my Zotero library?
The best way to back up your Zotero library is to close Firefox and then copy
the 'zotero' folder within your Firefox profle directory to an external drive. The
Zotero folder holds your database and all the related fles (images, PDFs,
webpages, etc.). You can locate your Zotero data by going to the Zotero
preferences under the Actions (gear icon) menu and clicking “Show data
directory” in the Advanced pane.

By backing up this directory, you will back up your entire Zotero library. If
something drastic happens (hard drive melts, computer is stolen, etc.), you can
simply place your archived backup 'zotero' folder into your new Firefox profle
with Firefox closed. When you open Firefox, your Zotero library will be there
waiting for you (after you reinstall Zotero, if necessary). As with all important
data, it is a good idea to back up your Zotero data frequently.

How can I access my library from multiple computers? Can

I store my Zotero library and associated fles on an
external drive?
You can conveniently transport your Zotero library from one machine to
another, accessing your data from any computer. The easiest way to use Zotero
on multiple computers is by running a copy of Firefox directly from a portable
drive, which gives you access to your Firefox settings, such as bookmarks and
history, in addition to your Zotero data. For more information see
http://www.zotero.org/support/using_portable_frefox_on_a_usb_drive

If you use Zotero only on your own computers and don't need to keep your
Firefox profle in sync, there's no need to use Portable Firefox. Simply copy
your Zotero data directory to the portable drive and set Zotero on each
computer to use the same custom data directory on the drive. You can set a
custom data directory in the Advanced tab of the Zotero preferences. Zotero 1.5
will offer the ability to sync multiple Zotero libraries automatically via the
Zotero server.
I have bibliographies in Microsoft Word documents, PDFs,
and other text fles. Can I import them into my Zotero
collection?
No. Zotero cannot currently import items from bibliographies in text
documents. While this may sound like a simple request, it is actually rather
diffcult to accomplish given the range of potential formats. If you have these
references in a bibliographic database, export them to an intermediate format,
such as RIS or BibTeX, and then import the references into Zotero.

Will I be able to use Zotero with Internet Explorer or some

other browser?
No. We cannot reproduce the functionality of Zotero in most other browsers
due to their lack of equivalent support for extensions. Many of Zotero's
advanced features, such as the ability to sense and grab citations from web
pages, are only possible because Firefox exposes all of its underlying
functionality to extension developers. Microsoft and many other browser
creators don’t allow extension developers to call on more than a tiny fraction of
their code. This explanation may be no solace for inveterate IE users, but we
hope that IE users who like the functionality of Zotero will give Firefox a try.

Why don't I see a Zotero icon in the address bar while

viewing a web page?
Zotero senses information on web pages through site translators, and a Zotero
icon will only appear if a site translator recognizes the page being viewed.
Zotero's translators should work with most library catalogs, popular websites
such as Amazon and the New York Times, and many gated databases. For more
information or for some sites to try out, see the compatible site list.

If a site isn't currently supported or a translator isn't working, you can still save
any web document, though you may need to fll in some details that Zotero
couldn't automatically detect.

If you don't see a Zotero icon on Amazon product pages or NY Times articles,
see Troubleshooting Translator Issues.
http://www.zotero.org/support/troubleshooting_translator_issues

How do I add an edited volume or a book chapter?

A book chapter from an edited volume is entered as a “Book Section”. Click the
green new item button and select “Book Section”. You will now see both a
“Title” feld for the chapter title and a separate “Book Title” feld. To add a editor
click the + sign on the author line in the right column. This will create an
additional Author line. If you click the triangle to the left of the new author
feld you will be able to change it to an editor.
Where does Zotero store my references and notes?
Your entire Zotero library is stored, by default, in the 'zotero' directory of your
Firefox profle. Inside that directory are two crucial elements: the zotero.sqlite
fle and the 'storage' folder. The zotero.sqlite fle contains the majority of your
data: item information, notes, tags, etc. The 'storage' folder contains all of your
attachments: PDFs, web snapshots, audio fles, and any other fles you have
imported.

Note that these data fles are different from a Zotero RDF fle (e.g., “Exported
Items.rdf”) created via Zotero's export functions. While you can import data
from an RDF fle, restoring your data fles directly is currently a much more
accurate and reliable method.

The quickest and most reliable way to fnd your Zotero data directory is
through the “Show Data Directory” button in the Advanced tab of your Zotero
Preferences window.

By default, Zotero data is stored within your Firefox profle in these OS-
dependent directories.

On a Mac:
/Users/<username>/Library/Application
Support/Firefox/Profles/<randomstring>/zotero

On Windows 2000/XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application
Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profles\<randomstring>\zotero

On Windows Vista:
C:\Users\<User
Name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profles\<randomstring>\zotero

If you have selected a custom data directory in the Advanced pane of the Zotero
prefs, your data will be stored elsewhere. The “Show Data Directory” button will
always reveal the data directory currently in use.

Warning: Before you copy, delete or move any of these fles, be sure that Firefox
is closed. Failure to close Firefox before moving these fles could result in
damage to your data.

What are the differences between Links and Snapshots?

When you save a link, Zotero stores only the page title, URL, and access date,
and you need to return to the site to view the page content. When you save a
snapshot, Zotero saves a copy of the page as it currently exists and archives it on
your computer.
Can I save a page that does not have a Zotero icon in the
location bar at the top of my Firefox window?
Yes. To archive a web page select the “Create New Item From Current Page”
icon. This will archive a copy of the page in your library. To see the page as it
was on the day you captured it double click the snapshot icon associated with
the fle, as shown below.
Zotero Anatomy
Database
Zotero is one of the frst Firefox extensions to take advantage of the new
mozStorage functionality introduced in Firefox 2.0. mozStorage is a database
API backed by the SQLite database engine, offering the power of a relational
database system within the Mozilla development environment. All system data
and item metadata is stored in an SQLite database, zotero.sqlite, within the
zotero directory. If the DB doesn’t exist at browser startup, a new one is created
from the fles system.sql, scrapers.sql and userdata.sql in the extension root,
which are then used only during schema updates.

Storage
Also inside the zotero directory is a storage directory for snapshots and copied
fles, which are stored within separate subdirectories named after the ID of the
attachment item they belong to. Zotero also creates a copy of the Zotero
database at every shutdown and stores it as zotero.sqlite.bak in the same
directory.

Translators
Site translators are discrete pieces of code that extract web-based metadata and
then insert it into a Zotero item. For this session we will take a quick look at
Zotero’s RIS translator.

Styles
Zotero uses the Citation Style Language to confgure citation formatting. CSL is
a new XML language for citation formatting and is designed to provide a nice
balance of power and ease-of-use. It is also designed to be independent of any
particular application, document format, or programming language. You can
view and edit CSL fles by pasting chrome://zotero/content/tools/csledit.xul into
your location bar in Firefox.
Working With Bibliographic Styles
Your users will ask you about creating styles. The goal of this session is not to
make you all style wizards, but to give you a basic sense of what is involved, how
Zotero styles references, some simple steps for editing styles, and familiarize
you with approaches for requesting additional bibliographic styles.

Manipulating Styles Files

1. Load up chrome://zotero/content/tools/csledit.xul
2. Select items and chose APA style from the drop down menu
3. Hit refresh, to see a live preview of citations
4. Try and do some light editing
Finding Additional Style Files
1. Visit http://www.zotero.org/styles
2. Mouse over some styles to preview them
3. Install a few new styles
Requesting New Bibliographic Styles
http://www.zotero.org/support/requesting_styles

Catch up on the conversation

Search the style repository and the Zotero forums to see if there is already a
style or an existing conversation about the style you need. If there is already a
conversation about your style, you may be able to contribute crucial information
that allows one of the community members to fnish it. In some cases there may
be technical reasons why the style cannot currently be supported. If you cannot
fnd your style in the repository or an existing conversation about your style,
start a new thread in the Citation Styles section of the Zotero forums. Name the
thread “Style Request: [name of style]”. Be sure to include the following
information.

Get your style's details

Similar style: What existing style is closest to the style you need? Take a look at
the list of styles in the style repository and uncheck the “Show dependent
styles” check box. You can hover your mouse over the style links to preview
citations in each of those styles. You can also paste
chrome://zotero/content/tools/cslpreview.xul into your Firefox location bar to
launch a preview of selected items from your Zotero library in all the styles you
currently have installed. Find the one that is closest to your style.

Differences from similar style: The next step is to itemize the precise differences
that need to be implemented to make that existing style into the style you need.
Doing this will give the creation of the style a big jump-start. The most time-
consuming part of style creation is not the technical part, but understanding
how a style works and how it differs from existing styles. The less a volunteer
has to do to fgure that out, the more likely it is they can help.

Link to style guide: Find a reputable web page that describes your style and
post a link to it in your request. If there is no good link, contact the
organization that supplies the style guide and request better documentation.
Failing that, post a link to a freely available copy of a work that follows the
specifc style.

Follow your thread

Subscribe to notifcation for the thread you started. If one of the community
members has the time to help you with your request, you may be asked for
additional information.
Platforms Supporting The Zotero Community

Procedures for Getting Help

In an effort to help you resolve your issue as quickly as possible, the Zotero
community has developed this set of steps for resolving issues. Please follow the
fve steps below.

Step One: Check your Zotero version

The latest Zotero version is always listed on the Zotero home page.
You can check your current Zotero version by selecting About Zotero from the
Actions menu (gear icon) in the Zotero toolbar or by selecting Add-ons from
Firefox's Tools menu and looking for Zotero in the Extensions tab.
If you aren't running the latest version, you should upgrade by clicking the
Download button on the front page, as your issue may have already been
resolved.

Step Two: Read up on common questions and issues

If something in Zotero appears not to be working correctly, frst check the
Known Issues page. The dedicated pages on troubleshooting Zotero data issues,
resolving issues with site translators, and troubleshooting the word processor
plugins may also address your issue.
If you have a question that isn't addressed on the troubleshooting pages, review
the Frequently Asked Questions for answers to common queries.

Step Three: Search through the documentation

If your question is still unresolved, search through all of Zotero's
documentation. You can use the search box at the top of every documentation
page or the search box right here.

Step Four: Search through the forums

If searching through Zotero's documentation fails to resolve your issue, search
through Zotero's forums. Try several searches with related keywords.

Step Five: Post a message to the forums

If you have searched through the documentation and forums but simply cannot
fnd an answer to your question, the next step is to post a message to the Zotero
Forums. Zotero's developers as well as many advanced Zotero community
members read and respond to forum posts. By asking questions in the forums
you access the broader experience of the Zotero community and also make
solutions publicly available for other users who may have the same questions. If
you are reporting a bug, please follow the bug reporting procedures. If you are
reporting an issue with a site translator, please make sure you have gone
through the steps involved in troubleshooting translator issues.
Keep Up With Development
You can follow Zotero’s development and browse the tools source code through
the projects open code repository. We will take a look at a ticket in the tracking
system.
https://www.zotero.org/trac/ticket/1353