Citation Resources: Organizing Your Library

Collections help you better organize your references. Collections are similar to file folders on your computer; however, in Zotero a reference can be in more than one collection at a time. For example, an article about Virginia Woolf could be filed in your "Women and Writing" collection, your "British Authors" collection, and your "Woolf" collection without having to make multiple copies. You can see your collection on the left side of your Zotero Standalone, Web, or Plugin.

1. Open Zotero for FireFox or Zotero Standalone.
2. At the top left is a folder button with a green plus sign. Click this to create a new collection. 
3. Drag and drop references to the collection name in the left sidebar. 

You will find information Zotero has collected about your references on the right side of your library. Bibliographic information, like author, journal title, page number, etc. can be found in the 'Info' tab. This includes the title, author, and publication year. By clicking on any field you can change the information or add to it. The only fields you cannot edit under 'Info' are 'Date Added' and 'Modified'.

• Notes - use the notes field to attach notes to your record, such as quotes, summaries, or why you chose to cite it.
• Tags - tagging items with keywords makes it easier for you to search your citations. Tags are often automatically downloaded from databases and catalogs, but you can also create your own. 
• Related - link to other items in your collection. This can be useful for managing which sources refer to a certain item.

If there is a PDF with an article citation, Zotero will often save the PDF automatically to the citation. If it does not save automatically, check your Zotero Preferences. To attach items in your Zotero library, you must change your Zotero settings.

1. Open Zotero for Firefox or Zotero Standalone. 
2. Click on gear icon on the left, then select "Preferences..." 
3. Click on the General pane, indicated by a gear. 
4. You will see a list of options under "Miscellaneous". Make sure that box is checked next to the option: "Automatically attach associated PDFs and other files when saving items".

You can also attach files and PDF's manually to citations. 

1. Open Zotero for Firefox or Zotero Standalone
2. Navigate to the citation to which you want to attach files.
3. Right-click the file and select "Add attachment," which will allow you to attach a link, screenshot, or file.