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.

• Notes
  • Add notes: 
    • Right-click an item and choose “Add note” or click an item and go to the right column, click on Notes, and Add button. This allows you to attach your own text notes to items in your library.
  • Add note from annotations
    • Right-click an item and choose "Add note from Annotations",  or within the Zotero's built-in PDF reader, click on the Add Note button at the upper right corner.
             
    • Annotations added to notes aren’t just plain text:
      • they include information about the source PDF that lets you quickly jump back to the original page to see context
          
      • they include a citation by default as well, which generates citation and bibliography entries with Zotero's Add Note button in Zotero’s word processor plugin.
        
  • Possible use of note
    • Your notes won’t appear in your citation and bibliography. The note is for the convenience of your research.
    • The filing number or location of a hard copy document/book.
    • Which part of your thesis or which project is it for? For example, chapter 3 or a conference paper.
    • Whether you need to follow up on this reference in some way? For example, request by inter-library loan. And an explanation of why you thought this reference could be a useful one to follow up on, for example: Cited in a Nature article or Recommended by your professor.
    • A direct quotation which you intend to use (make sure to include the exact page number(s) for the quotation).
• 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