Introduction to Zotero

Mar 5

Written By

Below is a brief introduction to Zotero I prepared for my “Writing a Research Paper" Seminar at the University of Northern Iowa. Starting this semester, I am going to explore Zotero as a research tool.

Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work—in the web browser itself.

Download and Install Zotero

Currently there are two versions of Zotero offered for download: Zotero 1.0 and Zotero 1.5 Beta. Zotero 1.5 Beta offers many new and exciting features, but it is still undergoing active development and may cause minor problems for some users as detailed below.

Syncing and backup of Zotero libraries
Automatic detection of PDF metadata
Rich-text notes
Automatic detection and support for proxy servers
Trash can with restore item functionality
Support for Endnote® export styles

Word Processor Compatibility

	Zotero 1.0	Zotero 1.5
Word 2003 (Win)	Compatible	Compatible
Word 2007 (Win)	Compatible	Compatible
Word 2004 (Mac)	Compatible	Compatible
Word 2008 (Mac)	Not Compatible	Compatible
OpenOffice 2.4	Compatible	Compatible
OpenOffice 3.0	Compatible	Compatible

Zotero 1.5 Beta has already been tested by thousands of users over the past 8 months, and we are confident that it is ready for widespread use. We have also added additional automated functionality to Zotero 1.5 Beta to protect data against loss. However, we are still actively adding features to Zotero's synchronization functionality, and there is a small risk of disruption in your user experience. If you plan to use Zotero 1.5 Beta, we strongly encourage you to back up your data regularly. If this message scares you even a tiny bit, please continue to use Zotero 1.0 for the immediate time being.

Zotero Quick Start Guide

For a quick overview of Zotero, follow the link above to the Quick Start Guide or download the pdf.

quick_start_guide.pdf

Zotero Screencast Tutorials

In an effort to make Zotero as user friendly as possible we have developed these screencasts demonstrating many of the basic functions of Zotero. Click on any of the images to watch screencasts detailing the features named below. Special thanks to Steve Bailey from CU-Boulder for preparing the introductory demo.

Zotero Compatible Sites

Zotero will automatically work with many sites not listed here; the best way to find out if Zotero works is to give it a try! If you find a site that works with Zotero but does not appear in the list below, please let us know by sending an email to [email protected].

12 must know Zotero tips and techniques

by Mark Dingemanse
Zotero is getting better and better. In a while, version 1.5 will bring synchronization, online backup of your library, +1100 CSL citation styles, and PDF metadata extraction (for the daring, a sync preview version is available). But even in its current incarnation Zotero is easily one of the best bibliographic managers out there. Here are twelve tips and tricks that help you to get the most out of it.

Zotero Links

Zotero Bookmarks

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