Managing Reference Data with Zotero: Saving Citations

• Use Zotero Connector's save button
  • To add an item to your Zoteo library, the most convenient and reliable way is to click the Zotero Connector's save button when you browse the web. The save button will change to different icons based on the content you are browsing. For example, for a book, for an article. Click on the icon to save the item to your Zotero library. On many sites, Zotero will also save any PDF accessible from the page or an open-access PDF that can be found for the saved item. When you see the save button change to a folder icon , it indicates you can save multiple items at once to your Zotero library. 
  • The way Zotero works is through its website-specific "translators" . Zotero translators can sense the content you are browsing and flag it to the Zotero Connector's save button, so with a single click, you can save a book item, a journal article item, or others into your Zotero library. Zotero has site translators for almost all library catalogs, most news sites, research databases and scientific publishers. 
• Add item by identifier
  • In the Zotero toolbar, click the Add Item by Identifier button . The icon looks like a magic wand. Input an ISBN number, DOI, or any other unique identifier. 
• Manually add items
  • In the Zotero toolbar, click the green New Item button , then manually type in the metadata in the right-hand pane. 

In Zotero, each reference is an item. Items can have notes, files, and links attached to them.

• Files and links
  • Click on the Attachments icon (the paperclip icon in the Zotero toolbar above the middle pane). 
    • Attach Link to File.
      By linking to a file, you create a file path to the document stored on your computer. (If you move the file, that link will be broken.)
    • Attach Stored Copy of File.
      If you choose to store a copy of the file, the entire document will be saved in your Zotero database. If you plan to back up your attachments to a server using Zotero, you should store the file. Alternatively, you can drag the file on top of the citation, which will store a copy of the file in Zotero.
    • Attach Link to URI… enable you to add a link to a web page