Literature management with Zotero

By Praveen VaidyaLiterature management with Zotero

PreviewManaging the literature

What is Zotero? And its features

Application of Zotero in literature management

Limitations of Zotero

Conclusion

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Managing the literatureDuring the research process, bound to gather a mound of literatureMay include reference materials, books, journals, grey literature, official publications etc.Needs efficient reading skills to allow you to cull unwanted literatureYou have to find a way to manage or organiseShould be able to annotate, cite and understand relevancyShould be able to retrieve quickly and efficiently

What is Zotero? [zoh-TAIR-oh]A research tool for managing online references by George Mason University, VirginiaA Firefox extension that provides users with automated access to bibliographic information for resources viewed online.Can be downloaded from website Stand alone version 3 http://www.zotero.org/support/3.0Add on can be downloaded from Firefox browserWhen installed, icon appears on side barSenses the bibliographic information contained in a website8What is Zotero? 2When the user clicks the Zotero icon-gathers that information and places it on the users library of resourcesHelps to gather the information quickly and easilyLater researcher can review and cite sourcesHas a feature of adding records manually alsoHence, researcher has a centralized location of gathering and storing referencesThis, streamlines the research processAt this stage, Zotero can sense information of many of prominent websitesWhat is Zotero? 3Provision to create subject folders sub folders and tagsSearch feature from any of the key words found in the saved literatureCan take a snap shot of the website referredSuppose, if website is not compatible with Zotero, data can be entered manuallyOrganises resources on timelineUsers can choose citation format, such as APA, Chicago, MLA etcCan export citations to MS Word or Google docs

Limitation of ZoteroDoes not work with Internet Explorer as IE is proprietary nature of the browser, but can install standalone on Windows OSTied to only specific computer you are using. To use it on other computer, installation of browser and Zotero add on is essentialOnline access to information is made available in new versions of Zotero, but if you want to switch to another computer, user has to export-import the dataDoes not provide an easy method to share the information with othersConclusionToday, quantity of online data has skyrocketed and research takes place at ever increasing paceBy automating the tasks of gathering, managing, citing online references, Zotero or other online reference tools facilitate more efficient research processFormatting of citation is consistent, and typos and other mistakes common in manual reference system can be eliminatedBy and large, literature management affords to be systematicReferencesOLeary, Zina (2010) The essential guide to doing your research project. Sage, New Delhi pp71-83

Busha, Charles and Harter, Stephen, P (1980) Research methods in librarianship. California, Academic Press

http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research/social-media-guide-researchers

http://www.zotero.org/support/quick_start_guide

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