Zotero

Tags

Tagging helps to further organize your research and make it easier for you to locate a specific source within Zotero. You can organize by topics, subthemes, methodology, to be read, and so forth. However you would like to organize your library that makes it easier for you to navigate your research!

To add a tag, simply click on the source of choice, then click the tag icon on the right-hand side of the page and click the plus sign next to "Tags".

You can add and delete tags at any time with the plus and minus symbols. Zotero will automatically generate tags when you add a source, so you can delete those if you feel they don't relate to your vision for project organization. 

Let's say you want to search for all sources you have yet to read, and you've tagged them as "to be read"; simply search these keywords in the search bar located on the bottom, left-hand side of the page and the tagged sources will display. 

Notes

When selecting a source, you will notice a "Notes" icon on the right-hand side of the screen. Here you can add and delete any notes you choose to enter for a specific source. 

Adding notes to your source is simply another way to organize the thoughts you have about the content. When you take notes this way, rather than when annotating within the source itself, they will show up as post-it notes below the source. 

You can add and delete notes at any time. 

Annotating Sources

Annotating a source within Zotero is simple - all you need to do is click on the source you want to annotate. From here, focus on the icons at the top middle of the page. 

Here is where you can choose to highlight, underline, create notes, text, box, or draw on the material. For example, you can highlight themes you notice in varying colors, or underline key terms or dates to remember.

Once you annotate, it will automatically save and you can exit out and click back in to access the notes you've taken. If you want to delete any annotations you have made, simply right click and choose "Delete".