Along with the citation information, Zotero can save links to the full-text, full-text PDF, tags for organizing your content, snapshots of pages, notes about the items, and stand-alone notes.
Adding an item to multiple collections does not make a new copy of the item. In Zotero, collections are more like music playlists than folders on your computer. Just like a single song can be added to more than one playlist, a single item in your Zotero library can be added to multiple collections.
You might find duplicate items in My Library. This happens when you save a citation from multiple sources/databases or save it multiple times. You can delete or combine entries for the same item. Find out how to do this in the Tips and Tricks section.
Click the folder icon under the File heading OR
Right-click on the My Library heading and select New Collection
Right-click on an existing collection and select New Subcollection
Give the new subcollection a name
When adding items to Zotero, select the collection you want them added to. Items added are also automatically saved to My Library.
Select item(s) in My Library
Drag the item(s) into the desired collection (Remember: An item can live in multiple collections at the same time)
Select the collection in the left Zotero column
Select the item(s) in the center column that you want to remove from the collection
Press the delete key OR right-click and select Remove Item from Collection
The citation has been removed from the selected collection, but not from “My Library” or any other collections.
Select the collection in the left Zotero column
Then select the item(s) from the center column
Right-click on them, and choose “Move Item(s) to Trash…”.
When “My Library” or a Group library name is selected in the left Zotero pane, pressing the Delete key will also move items to the trash. When a collection or subcollection is selected, press Cmd/Ctrl-Delete to move the items directly to the trash.
Deleting a collection does not delete the items in the collection. The Items are still in My Library. Deleting a collection will also delete its subcollections (but not the items in them).
When you import items from databases, the keywords, subjects, and descriptors attached to the items may be imported as tags. Tags allow for detailed characterization of an item.
All tags are displayed in the bottom of the left column and the tags for each item are shown in the item details column when the item is selected. Tags can be edited in both locations. To prevent tags from being imported with items, go to Edit > Preferences > General and uncheck "Automatically tag items with keywords and subject headings."
You can tag items based on their topics, methods, status, ratings, or even based on your own workflow (e.g., “to-read”). Items can have as many tags as you like, and you can filter your library (or a specific collection) to show items having a particular set of one or more tags.
You can use the search box in the middle window to search for tags in a collection or My Library.
When you click on any tag, the center column updates to display only the items with that tag. You can select multiple tags to refine the results. To remove the filter, click on the tag again or choose "Deselect All" from the drop-down menu.
Right-click on a tag to rename it across all the items or delete it from all the records it is attached to.
To create a note attached to an item, either
Select the item from the list in the center column and either click the “New Note” button at the top of the center column (
) and select “Add Child Note”
Go to the “Notes” tab in the center column and click the “Add” button.
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. Text in notes is saved as you type.
Zotero will sometimes import information from a resource, such as a table of contents or abstract, into the notes of an item. Use the editor to change or delete these entries.
Standalone notes are not directly related to any item in your library and will appear in the list of items in your library. You may want to use the standalone note to save search strings or other relevant search information.
To create a standalone note,
To sort, click on a category listed at the top of the center column. Change the categories displayed by clicking on the icon in the top right corner of the column.
The search box at the top of the Zotero application will look through all your data for results, including tags, notes, and the full text of website snapshots.
Zotero can search citations, notes, and attached PDFs for your search term. Click on the search (
) icon to pull up the Advanced Search Screen.