Zotero

Zotero enables you to separate your sources into different collections (folders). You may create as many collections and sub-collections as you wish.

To add a collection, click the folder icon in the upper-left corner of your Zotero library.

This will create an empty folder. You can then drag and drop items from your "My Library" folder to your new folder, or you can save references directly to your folder by having it selected when you are saving into Zotero.

Along with basic info like title and author, Zotero will often save additional information, like the subject terms used in a database. You can also add your own tags, and can even color code them for quick, visual organization.

  

Notes give you the ability to give yourself little reminders as to why a particular resource is useful or important for your research. If, for example, you find a journal article that makes a point that you want to refer to in your paper, you can write yourself a quick reminder in the notes section.

Quick searches provide a fast way to find items in a library or collection. To begin searching, click inside the search box at the top-right of the center pane (or type Ctrl/Cmd-F) and start typing your search terms. As you type, only those items in the center column that match the search terms will remain.

Quick search can be used in three different modes:

• “Title, Year, Creator” - matches against these three fields, as well as publication titles
• “All Fields & Tags” - matches against all fields, as well as tags and text in notes
• “Everything” - matches against all fields, tags, text in notes, and indexed text in PDFs (this requires that PDF indexing be enabled)

You can also search more fields and with finer control using the Advanced Search.