Zotero
1.
It is open source
(free) and can be downloaded and installed on a laptop or a computer and used
independent of the internet. 2.
Zotero has an online
website where users can create personal accounts to manage their personal
sources. This makes those sources available to a user at any time via
internet. 3.
A companion
program called ZoteroBib is available for
smartphones which allows the easy creation of short bibliographies. After
creation, these can be uploaded to one’s personal Zotero
account. 4.
Zotero allows for “group
libraries” which are accessible to large numbers of people. This feature
means that ZACU students can use the ZACU Zotero eLibrary as a primary source for reference materials.
When a particular entry is an open educational resource, students can quickly
download the document directly from the group library. Create a Zotero Account In order
to fully utilize Zotero, one must first create a
personal Zotero online account. These accounts are
free. Simply go to the Zotero website, enter the
required information, and confirm the account via your personal email
address. The Zotero web address is: www.zotero.org Create
Entries in Your Zotero Account and Use Them Once you
have a personal account, you can add entries manually or by importing them
from other sources such as Google Scholar or Worldcat.
It is then an easy matter to export these sources and create a bibliography
or a “references cited” page for a research paper or project. Be sure that
entries are correct and complete. Otherwise, your bibliographic output files
will not be correct. Zotero for Laptop or Desktop
Computers Zotero has designed an application for laptop and
desktop computers which can be downloaded from their site and installed on
your computer. For more serious users, the laptop/desktop application is
clearly better than only a smartphone. The standalone computer application
allows users to work on their bibliographies without being connected to the
internet and gives them access to the data in a standalone fashion. Moreover,
the ability to create research notes which are indendent
of bibliographic entries gives researchers a powerful tool for organizing
current research notes and searching for older work. For some researchers, thistool has replace the need for 3x5 note cards, manila
file folers, and bulky ring binders. At the end or the day, many scholars will find they want to use the
laptop/desktop application for serious work over simply using the smartphone. ZoteroBib ZoteroBib is a more recent addition to
the Zotero services. It has been designed
specifically for mobile phone use. The program works through a smartphone
browser such as Firefox or Opera. Simply enter the web address (www.zbib.org) into the address line and the
site will appear. Like the laptop version of Zotero,
one can create entries manually (e.g., author, title, etc.) or one can import
entries from another source (e.g. Google Scholar or Worldcat).
In order to import, you must enter the ISBN or URL for a particular source. In an
earlier paragraph, we made the point that serious scholars are likely to want
to use a laptop for much of their work. However, this does not diminish the
value of a smartphone for research purposes. ZoteroBib
gives the scholar a convenient way to do research work while away from the
computer. Moreover, one can use a smartphone to scan documents which can be
uploaded to one’s Zotero account. Thus, a scholar
might scan an important historic letter, upload it to their personal account,
add relevant personal notes or thoughts about the letter, and thereby have it
available when they return to continue their work at their laptop/desktop.
Or, similarly, A research might record an interview with an informant on the
smartphone, create a Zotero entry for the
recording, add a summary of the interview, and upload and attach the
recording to the entry. Using
ZACU’s Zotero eLibrary ZACU has
created its own Zotero account and we are uploadding entries to the website. Many of these entries
include links to open source pdf copies of the document. This offers ZACU
students an amazing resource for academic projects and day-to-day learning.
The current entries include a variety of books and articles related to
business studies, religious studies, civic education, the arts, and more.
Textbooks for many ZACU classes can also be found in ZACU’s Zotero eLibrary. Access to this
eLibrary is by invitation only and is intended only
for use by current ZACU students and staff. After you have created your
personal account, send a request to the administration and you will receive
an email invitation to join the ZACU Zotero eLibrary Group. This will allow you to access and search
the available entries. Zotero and ZoteroBib
Tutorials Detailed
tutorials are available online at various university libraries and elsewhere.
Zotero also has an extensive set of tutorials on
its webstite. Consult the links below: 2.
Index page of Zotero
info links 3.
George State
University Library Tutorial 4.
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