Kaitlyn Tanis
she/her
Contact:
History and Social Sciences Librarian
Research & Engagement Department
Research & Engagement Department
Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. This research tool automatically detects many types of content as you browse, allowing you to add it to your personal library with a single click. Zotero is used by researchers in many academic disciplines, especially social sciences and humanities.
- Collect references and add full-text PDFs, images, A/V files, snapshots of web pages, and other sources.
- Organize your references into collections. Zotero automatically indexes the full contents of your library, enabling you to find exactly what you're looking for with a few keystrokes.
- Cite sources in a bibliography and in-text citations using the style of your choice. Use a plugin to work in your favorite word processing program or simply drag one or more references into a message or document.
- Share your collections of references by creating or joining groups on the Zotero site. Groups can be private or public, open or closed.
How does Zotero work?
This series of videos from Idaho State University Libraries offers a quick and informative overview of how Zotero works, including installation and setup, importing items, and creating bibliographies and in-text citations.
Zotero Documentation
Prefer to read step-by-step instructions? Zotero includes extensive support documentation on its site. Some highlights are listed below.
- Quick Start GuideA basic introduction to the features of Zotero.
- Screencast TutorialsThe best way to quickly learn the features and operation of Zotero. Text-based instruction pages are also available, listed below.
- Getting Stuff Into Your LibraryUse of the URL-window icon or direct imports to move Web-site metadata into Zotero.
- Collections and TagsHow to organize your files and provide tags to items and files.
- Creating BibliographiesHow to use Zotero with MS Word or Open Office to create bibliographies within a document. See also Word Processor Integration.
- Word Processor IntegrationHow to use Zotero with your word processor for in-text citations and embedded bibliographies.
- Zotero Plug-insZotero often relies on plug-ins to speed up your work process. You can find a list of plug-ins here.