Feminist Theory - GSWS 3097 / ENG 3097

Zotero is a citation manager: a tool that helps you organize to sources across many projects, and also to create bibliographies. It can help you keep track of PDFs on your computer, online sources, and print books and other physical media. 

There are lots of products out there that have similar functions. What are some good reasons to choose Zotero?

1. Zotero is free and open source. That means it's free for you to use, and open for users to adapt the code and constantly build new tools and add-ons. That also means they have made a commitment to openness and transparency, which some of us library types think is pretty important.
2. Zotero works together with Temple databases, but your Zotero account is not tied to your Temple self. When you leave Temple, you can take your whole library of sources with you as you move on to future research.
3. There is a lot of online help available through Zotero support forums.

While I recommend Zotero over other citation managers, it's not the perfect tool for everyone. Here are a few reasons why you might not adopt Zotero.

1. You're already using a different citation manager (like EndNote, Mendeley, etc.). It may not be worth your time to migrate your library to a new system if you're already using one that works for you.
2. You want to annotate PDFs in your citation management software. You can use something like Adobe Acrobat to annotate your Zotero PDFs, but Zotero doesn't have that functionality built in.
3. Zotero works best if you have it installed on one primary computer. If you tend to switch computers a lot, or work primarily from a mobile device or Chromebook, it may not be the best tool for you.

Register for an Online Account
Upload your local Zotero database to the Zotero website and sync citations across multiple computers.

Download Zotero and Zotero Connector
Zotero is now a desktop application that downloads to your computer. In addition, there is a browser plugin - the Zotero Connector - that works with Firefox, Chrome, and Safari to simplify importing from the Web.

Sync your Zotero Account
Set up your Zotero software to sync your Zotero library to the cloud at zotero.org

Word Processor Plugins
Zotero integrates with Google Docs, MS Word and LibreOffice to insert in-text citations and create bibliographies. These plugins should install with the Zotero software and the browser plugin.

Set Up OpenURL for Linking
Go to Zotero Preferences to set this up.

Find More Zotero Plugins
Browse a long list of third party plugins.

Install Additional Styles
Zotero ships with several popular citation styles. You can install over 8,100 additional styles from the Zotero Style Repository.