Are you in the market for a research organizer tool? If such is the case, you’re in the right place here because we’re going to talk about a tool known as Zotero. It’s an open-source software that is integrated with your word processor and web browser. What makes Zotero a great tool is because it’s capable of collecting all of your research, which then allows you to organize and synchronize your entire material and share it from anywhere in the world. It’s pretty slick for what it offers, and the fact that it’s free really puts the icing on the cake.
Here’s the thing, to take advantage of the cloud features, you must first create a Zotero account after downloading and installing the app.
How to use Zotero
Zotero is an impressive research management software that comes with everything you’ll need to get started, and also offers the ability to install add-ons. This free, easy-to-use tool helps you collect, organize, cite, and share research.
Once the service is up and running, you should come across three panes; one on the left, another on the right, and the final one in the middle. Now, the left-hand pane is where you’ll find a list of your collections, while the right-pane consists of your entire citation information.
As for the pane in the middle, it holds your items that are in a selected collection. So yes, Zotero is more than what you might expect, and from our experience, it works quite well.
Now, because Zotero is integrated with your web browser, searching for content is a breeze. Most contents from your web browser can be added to your library with ease. Additionally, files such as videos, audios, PDFs, and images are also supported.
If you have a lot of text context, they’re all indexed here as well. Therefore, you should have little problems finding what you want in a hurry. To make things even more interesting, it doesn’t matter if files are saved online or offline, everything is available.
We should point out that it’s possible to save your searches, so that’s great.
No folders required
Whatever research you have, they are all organized into collections and sub-collections in similar ways to a playlist. You can even tag items with relevant keywords for easy finding. Furthermore, you can set the database in your library to enable tagging automatically when new items are added.
Probably the most important feature of Zotero is the ability to transfer an share files anywhere you want. You see, sharing makes it easier for users to collaborate with associates or colleagues on several issues relating to work or just in general. You can download Zotero from the official website right here.