Archive for the 'Features' Category

Many people coming to Zotero already have extensive collections stored in other reference management software. The following information describes how to make the move from EndNote to Zotero, but the same basic steps apply to many other reference management systems.

How to Import From EndNote
In EndNote, select “Output Styles” from the Edit menu. From the list of output styles select RefMan (RIS). (If you do not see RIS as an option, you’ll need to download the style from the EndNote site.) It could also be that the style is not enabled.  You may have to go open the Output Styles Manager from the Edit menu, enable RIS, then close the manager before it’s an option.) Once RefMan (RIS) is set as the format, select “Export” from the File menu. In the Export window that pops up, choose “Text Only”, select the RIS output style immediately below “Text Only” in the dialog, and hit “Save.” After exporting from EndNote, click on the gear icon () above the left column in your Zotero pane and select Import from the pull-down menu. In the filesystem window that pops up, locate the RIS file you exported from EndNote and select “Open.” Your references should be imported into Zotero.

If you have any issues related to importing and exporting references, try searching the forums. You may well find quick tips to help you solve your problem. If your search doesn’t turn up the answer you were looking for, post your question to the forums. This is the quickest way to get information from the Zotero team.

This week we are profiling some of the new features accompanying the Zotero 1.0 Beta 3 release. Today we would like to highlight the expanded tagging functions now available in Zotero.

Tagging is an easy way to categorize items by attaching descriptive words to them. You can tag your information with whatever relevant keyword or term you would like associated with that given item. These tags allow you to sift through your information in a personal way, by the categories that deem relevant.

Located in the bottom-left-hand corner of your screen, the tag selector adds an additional layer of information management to complement the collection and search systems. The selector updates its inventory from tags you place on individual items in your Library. By clicking on any of the tags you can filter the items within your Library, collections and saved searches by as many or as few tags as you like.

You can toggle the tag selector in and out of view by clicking the tag selector box icon (). The tag selector defaults to showing all the tags on items in the current folder. When you click on a given tag, the center pane updates to display only the items with that tag. You can select multiple tags to further focus the results in the center pane or click on a tag again to deselect it. To quickly find a tag in the list, type part of its name in the Filter box; selected tags not matching what you type remain selected, allowing you to quickly find and select multiple items. It is also possible to click the “Deselect all” button to return the center pane to displaying all the items in the selected folder.

From this box you can also control the tags globally. By right-clicking on a tag (or Control-clicking on the Mac) you can choose to rename a tag across all items or delete it from all of the records it is attached to. You can also assign tags to multiple items at once by dragging items from the items pane onto tags in the tag selector. This is where the “Display all tags” checkbox comes in handy: while the tag selector normally only shows you tags on items in the current view, clicking “Display all tags” causes tags not assigned to currently visible items to appear in gray. You can then drag items onto one of the gray tags to assign it to those items.

As an example, while working on your project on the history of bottled water (see above image), you decide to tag five items “Bottled Water.” It is as easy as selecting the items and dragging them onto the Bottled Water tag in the tag selector box.

Note that some items that you save will come with tags already attached. If Zotero detects classification information or other metadata as part of a catalog record, it will, in some cases, extract that information as a tag. For example, OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) record subject headings become Zotero tags. You can manage these automatic tags in the same way that you manage the tags you add manually.

Most users don’t just like to read and gather sources; they like to take notes on them. We’ve all got little scribbles in the margins of books, on post-its, and on notepads (real and virtual). Zotero makes it easy to keep all those annotations, jots, and notes all in one place, and all searchable. And with the recent addition of the ‘grab a chunk of text off the screen’ capability added in the latest version of Zotero, that process has become even easier. Here’s an overview of note-taking to simplify your life.

Reading and Writing
As a scholarly workbench, Zotero reflects a basic understanding of the researcher as a crossbreed between a reader and a writer. Does browsing MIT’s Wearable Computing pages provoke a thought? Does reviewing the presiding judge’s ruling in Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. spark some insight? Simply open your Zotero pane, click on the “standalone note” icon in the middle column (Figure 1), and type away. No need to cumbersomely switch back and forth between your web browser and a desktop application (Figures 2 and 3).

Figure 1. Five icons appear at the top of the middle column in the Zotero pane. The yellow square with a plus sign at far right is the “standalone note” icon.

Figure 2. Zotero integrates reading and writing within a single environment. You can resize the Zotero pane by clicking and dragging, thereby revealing more or less of the content in the browser window.

Figure 3. Enlargement of note in right column.

Grabbing Text
Because new research often incorporates pre-existing work, Zotero makes it easy for you to migrate quotable material from a web-based source into your notes. Highlight the relevant text, right-click (ctrl-click on the Mac) to open a pop-up menu, and select “Create Zotero Note from Selection” (Figures 4 and 5). In this way, Zotero facilitates transcription as well as annotation.

Figure 4. Zotero allows you to highlight plaintext and send it to a note.

Figure 5. The copied text appears in the right column of the Zotero pane.

Other Ways to Add Notes
To preserve the connection between source and annotation, first add the source item to your library and then either right-click on the title (ctrl-click on a Mac) in the middle column, choosing “add note” from the pop-up menu (Figure 6), or click on the note tab in the right column and select “Add” (Figure 7). If you return to the note later, you have the choice of editing it in the right column or in a separate window (Figure 8 ).

Figure 6. To associate a note with a specific item, right-click on the title of the relevant item in the middle column and select “Add Note” from the pop-up menu.

Figure 7. Another way to associate a note with an item is to click on the title in the middle column, select the “Notes” tab in the right column, and then click “Add.”

Figure 8. You can edit a note in the right column of your Zotero pane or, as shown here, in a separate window.

“Related” and “Tags” Options
You can cross-reference other items in your library by clicking the “Related” option in the bottom left corner of the note window (Figure 3). Doing so will open a menu from which you can choose a related reference, note, snapshot, or file. To select more than one, hold down the shift key and click all relevant items. Several notes can be appended to each item, all of them searchable. You can also add tags to notes by clicking “Tags” in the bottom left corner of the Note window (Figure 3).

Deleting a Note
Clicking on the minus sign that appears next to a note in the right column will delete it (Figure 9), as will right-clicking on the note icon (ctrl-clicking on the Mac) in the middle column and then selecting “Delete Selected Item from Library” (Figure 10).

Figure 9. Delete a note by clicking on the minus sign.


Figure 10. Delete a note by selecting “Delete Selected Item” from pop-up menu.

Find Out More
To learn more about Zotero’s capabilities, visit our online documentation, or check out Steve Bailey’s screencast.