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Zotero: Getting Started

Information on using Firefox's citation-management add-on, Zotero.

Open the Zotero Pane

Firefox

There are four ways to open the Zotero pane:

  • Go to the Firefox Tools menu and choose Zotero
  • Click on the Zotero icon logo in the bottom right corner of your browser.
  • Click on the Zotero icon (Zotero toolbar icon) in your browser's toolbar.
  • Press Ctrl + Alt + z on a PC or Shift + Apple + z on a Mac.

To close the Zotero pane, click on the Close Window icon () in the top right corner of the Zotero pane, or repeat any of the four methods listed above.


Zotero Standalone

Simply start Zotero Standalone as you would any other program.

The Zotero Pane Layout

The Zotero pane has three panels that represent different levels of information:

 

 

              

  • The Left Panel shows your Zotero library and collections, as well as tags (keywords) that describe items in your library.

 

                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • The Middle Panel displays items contained within the collection that you select in the Left Panel.      

 

 

  • The Right Panel displays information about the item that you select in the Middle Panel.

 

To resize the Zotero pane in your browser window, click on the top edge of the pane and drag the edge to reposition the boundary.

Setting Preferences in Zotero

To set preferences click on the GEAR icon:

 

Preferences/General Tab

On the GENERAL tab: