Info, Notes, Tags, and Related
You'll find the information Zotero collected about your reference on the right side of your library after selecting a reference. Citation information is in the "Info" tab, and you can edit any field by clicking on it except for "Date Added" and "Modified."
Notes
These are for your personal use. Some suggestions for what to put here are quotes, summaries of the resource, or why you chose to save and cite it.
A note will be created as an attachment to the item (it will also show up under the “Notes” tab), and a note editor will appear in the right-hand column. You can create a dedicated window for the editor by clicking the “Edit in a separate window” button at the bottom of the editor. Text in notes is saved as you type.
Standalone Notes - Standalone notes are not directly related to any item in your library, and will appear in the list of items in your library. To create a standalone note, click the “New Note” button and select “New Standalone Note”.
Tags
Tagging references can make it easier for you to search for them. Especially with database articles, tags are often automatically downloaded.
To prevent tags from being imported with items, go to Edit > Preferences > General and uncheck "Automatically tag items with keywords and subject headings."
By default, the Tag Selector in the left column shows all tags present in the currently selected library or collection. As an alternative way of adding tags, you can drag one or multiple items (or files, links, and notes) from the center column and drop them onto a tag in the Tag Selector.
Related
This allows you to link a resource to another item in your collection. This can be especially useful for tracking which sources refer to each other.
Collections
Everything added to the Zotero library appears in "My Library." You can create collections corresponding to your projects by clicking on the button that looks like a folder above "My Library."
If you have a collection selected when you are importing items into your library, the items will appear both in "My Library" and in the collection you have selected. When you remove an item from a collection, it will not be removed from "My Library" (but if you delete an item from "My Library," it will be deleted from all collections). You can add sub-collections within collections as well.
To copy items into collections, select them in "My Library" and drag them into the collection. The same item can simultaneously exist in multiple collections. To see which collections you have placed an item, select the item and then press the Ctrl button. The collections will be highlighted in yellow.
Organizing Your Library
In addition to storing bibliographic information and metadata, Zotero can save links to the full text, full text attachments, tags for organizing your content, snapshots of pages, notes about the items, and also stand-alone notes.
Attachments
You can set up your Zotero preferences (under Edit > Settings) so that when you import bibliographic information, depending on availability, Zotero will import a link to the item, a snapshot of the item, or the full text of the item. These appear as child items attached to the items listed in the middle column. As seen below, the PDFs will usually have a generic label. Right-click on the label and choose "Rename File from Parent Metadata" to change this label to the article title.
You can attach files manually by dragging a PDF (or other file) into your Zotero pane. Dropping a file into your collection will copy it into your library as a standalone item. Dropping it onto an existing item will attach it to that item.
Searching collections
Zotero searches citations, notes, and attached PDFs for your search term. Click on magnifying glass icon near the right side of the screen, next to a search box.
This allows you to pull up Advanced Search.
