12 must know Zotero tips and techniques
November 30th, 2008
by Mark Dingemanse
by Mark Dingemanse
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Zotero is getting better and better. In a while, version 1.5 will bring synchronization, online backup of your library, +1100 CSL citation styles, and PDF metadata extraction (for the daring, a sync preview version is available). But even in its current incarnation Zotero is easily one of the best bibliographic managers out there. Here are twelve tips and tricks that help you to get the most out of it.
- Drag files from the web right into your library
Got a reference in your library, but no PDF? Or saved an item from a repository which doesn't provide a fulltext version? Do a quick search for the title on Google Scholar — it is good at finding PDFs on author's webpages. If you find one, just drag the link from the page onto the reference in your library. Zotero stores and attaches the PDF for you. - Enter a series of items by duplicating a template
Adding a series of related references to your library? Start with one item for which you fill in the fields that are the same for all items (e.g. editors, book title, year, publisher, place) and duplicate it (Right-click > Duplicate item). Then fill in the particularities. - Quick Copy a citation using Ctrl+Alt+C or drag and drop
Sending a PDF to a colleague, or mentioning a reference somewhere? Quickly copy the citation by selecting the reference and pressing Ctrl+Alt+C (Command+Alt+C on the Mac), or simply drag it from Zotero onto any edit window (for example a new email). The default output style can be specified under Preferences > Export; the shortcut key can be customized under Shortcut keys. - Have Zotero index your PDFs
Zotero can index your PDF attachments and make them fully searchable, turning your library from a mere linked catalogue into a Google Books of sorts. The option is turned off by default because it relies on an external open source program (pdf2txt) which is not distributed with Zotero. However, Zotero can automatically install it and enable fulltext indexing: simply go to Preferences > Search and click on the 'Check for installer' button. For more info see pdf fulltext indexing in the Zotero documentation. - Start quicksearch with " to trigger advanced search
By default, Zotero starts searching when you put the first few characters in the Search box. In a large library with fulltext indexing enabled, this can be tiresome (you wanted to look for "statistical methods", but Zotero locks down searching for "st"). To avoid this, simply start your search with " (double quote) to have Zotero wait until you finish typing and hit enter. - Press Ctrl to find out in which collections an item is
Looking at an item in your library and wondering whether you already categorized it? Press Control and Zotero will highlight the collections in which it is contained. - Relocate your Zotero folder to a more sensible place
The default place for the Zotero database and attachments in right in your Firefox profile, which isn't the easiest to locate whichever OS you are on. Go to Preferences > Advanced to customize the storage location. You can place it in a folder that is included in your regular backup schedule or put it on a portable drive so that your library always travels with you (tip: combine it with Firefox Portable, which you can even use without administrator rights). - Keep track of recent additions using a saved search
Often you add new items without worrying about tagging or putting them in collections. Click Advanced search, select "Dated Added" > "is in the last" > X "days/months" and fill in the desired period; then save the search. This gives you a dynamically updated overview of your latest additions, so that you can go back to them and do the categorization and tagging work when it suits you. - Tag multiple items at once
Want to tag multiple items at once? Select them, make sure the tag selector is visible in the left pane, and drag them onto the tag you want to use. The tag will be applied to all items. - Tag incomplete items to find them back and fix them later
Sometimes you know an item has incomplete metadata (e.g. missing page numbers or publisher), but you don't have the time to fix it right away. Make it a habit to tag such items ("needs metadata") when you see them. Now you can find them and fix them whenever you have some time to kill. - Use a separate folder for files to be ingested
Someone gives you a bunch of PDFs to read; or you download a paper somewhere without having the metadata handy. Make it a habit to save such files in a subfolder /new/ in your Zotero folder. Then once in a while go through that folder. Do a quick search for the title on your favourite repository, grab the metadata, and then drag the PDF from your filemanager onto the reference in Zotero. Much better than having those loose PDFs scattered all over your hard drive (or in your mailbox!) — and it helps you keep track of your reading history too. - Display a timeline to visualize your bibliography
Not a feature you'll use everyday, but a neat one nonetheless: Zotero can display your library, or portions of it, on a timeline. Select a group of references, a tag, or a collection and click 'Create timeline' (in the Gear menu). This gives you an overview of the items in time. Now you have to ask yourself: is the recency bias due to your reading habits or is it really true that most of the research was done in the last twenty years? (Probably a bit of both.)
Questions or suggestions? Leave a comment.
Filed under Zotero | Comments (9)9 Responses to “12 must know Zotero tips and techniques”
In regard to PDFs, I am interested in your comments on the best way to handle the following scenarios in Zotero.
a) metadata discovered on web, PDF found elsewhere
b) metadata and PDF found at same URL.
c) website with overview of document and various links to components of document (PDFs of chapters, appendices, etc).
d) versional PDFs (that the authors don’t recognise as versions) — i.e. Documents that are dated, which are intermittently updated, but thats actual file name is the same as the original.
Simon,
for (a) I would use the first tip. For (b), I’m assuming you mean that the metadata is not ‘grabbable’ by Zotero; in that case you’d have to add it by hand (or try Google Scholar to find it in grabbable format somewhere else), after which you can drag the PDF onto it as in (a).
For c), simply save a snapshot of the overview and then attach the PDFs. In this case it pays off to rename them (00-contents, 01-chapter1, …, 11-appendix) so that they will be neatly ordered in Zotero.
For (d), attach all versions and take note of the version number either in the file name or in the note field available in the right pane when the file is selected. Or if you intend to cite the different versions, make duplicates and provide the dates of the versions to keep them apart.
Mark,
Tried the first tip and Zotero created an attachment that was stored on disk (expected). The import however did not fill the source of the file into the URL field of the reference (unexpected)and there is no way of dragging-and-dropping it, or cutting-and-pasting the link attached to the PDF attachment into this field – You need to go back to the original site and find the URL again and extract it from the browser.
For my option b) above, I was alluding to sites where the metadata and PDF are on the same page. Is their a way of getting the metadata stored and PDF attached, with the URL to the PDF stored in the URL field of the item – with just one button or keystroke.
For my option c) above, by attaching multiple PDFs this creates a virtual library but how do you present this in a bibliography? My references need to provide both functions – a reference for me and a citation for my clients/readers.
Simon,
Re: a) — good point about the URL, it would make sense if Zotero saved it in this case. This is something that should be suggested in the Zotero forums. In fact, I just did it.
Re: b), Zotero uses ‘translators’ to grab metadata from sites. Every site needs its own custom-built translator, so only if the sites you’re alluding to are very common it would pay off to develop one (see scaffold).
Re c), as a rule, you need separate items for separate citations. In that case something like ‘book section’ comes closest to what you describe, and you could quickly generate items for all sections using the duplicating strategy described in tip #2. First add the containing item, then duplicate it once, make the duplicate into a book section, and specify that it is related to the container. If you now duplicate this duplicate, all of them will be conveniently linked to the container item.
In short, there are no automated solutions for b) and c) due to the fact there is no generic way for Zotero to sniff out bibliographic details, since every site is structured differently. In the future, some cb2bib implementation may help.
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Keeping Zotero on a portable drive may be handy, but access the the database (many read/write actions) are slower than an ordinary hard drive. Also, the life-time of your portable drive might be shorter as a consequence… so as everywhere: make regular backup copies.
Anice, the newest version of Zotero supports synchronization, so I suppose the portable option is not so urgently needed anymore (except for students in public libraries perhaps). Synchronization also obviates the need for making manual backups.
I don’t think the lifetime of the drive would be affected though — writing to solid state memory involves no mechanical parts so that shouldn’t be a problem.
[...] then index these fully with software such as the free Google Desktop or Copernic Desktop Search or Zotero with the PDF2txt addon, or something more powerful such as the commercial DTSearch. Then you’re assured that you [...]