Zotero is a bibliographic reference management tool. Used extensively in the field of research (writing studies, theses or articles), it will make it possible to collect the results of its research, keep the details (text and references) and then create a bibliography. This effectively optimizes the management of research results and references as well as their documentation and compilation.
Zotero tool was originally an extension for the Firefox browser which has since been adapted for Chrome and Opera as well as in a standalone version for Windows, OS and Linux.
Launch the setup program that you have downloaded.
After opening the .dmg
file that you have downloaded, drop Zotero in the Applications folder. You can then launch Zotero from Spotlight, Launchpad or the Applications folder, and add it to your Dock like any other program.
To start Zotero, download the tarball, unzip it and open Zotero from the repository.
After installation, make sure you also install a Zotero connector suitable for your browser.
The strength of Zotero lies in its many options for classifying saved pages or sections, in which you can add keywords as well as a category (article, blog post, book chapter...). It is also possible to highlight sentences and add annotations as a note on pages. A dynamic search engine (the results are displayed as you type) is finally on board. The tool is relatively easy to learn and use in relation to its capabilities, and has become a classic used in many universities, engineering schools and research centres.
There are many hundreds of sites and databases that are compatible with Zotero, and this number is steadily increasing. In order to check if the website you are visiting is Zotero compatible, you just have to verify the presence of one of the Zotero icons in the browser's address bar. In practical terms, there are several ways and options for adding bibliographic references:
Once a website is compatible, in order to add a reference in your bibliography, you just have to click on the icon in the address bar:
- If you are on the page dedicated to the resource notice: Zotero will then import this notice into your bibliography;
- If you are on a page that displays a list of resources (menu, search result, etc.), Zotero will then suggest that you select, from all the resources listed on the page, the one(s) you want to import into your bibliography
It is possible that you may want to import references into Zotero that are not available on compatible sites. In order to do this, you will have to fill in the various fields yourself and create a record manually. Afterwards, you must create an empty record and fill in the fields, then select the type of document among those proposed. Finally, all you have to do is fill in the fields.
A few tips and tricks as well as some small options not developed in this guide.
- If you want to know to which collection(s) a reference belongs, select it in the middle column and press
Crtl
(PC) orAlt
(Mac). Collections containing this reference are then highlighted in yellow; - If you perform the handling described above by holding down the
Shift
button, you will generate a citation instead of a bibliography; - You can generate a chronology of your collections or library via the tool menu (gear icon)
Create a chronology
; - You can generate a report of one or more references by right-clicking and then
Generate a report
. It is an html page that you can then save, print, convert to pdf and so on.