Exploring Zotero...

After reading and watching the Zotero resources, (that were mentioned in the previous blog), I felt confident and started to add bibliographic references to my Library. I could either copy and paste the necessary details, e.g., item type, title, author, edition, publisher, place and year published, from a library database or search engine or I can enter the details manually. I have manually entered the details of the text books that I have been using during my studies at university and also organized the books into appropriate collections, e.g., Language, Technology etc...

Below is a screen capture demonstrating how to add a New Collection to My Library.

Once a name had been entered for the New Collection I clicked on the green + icon to add an Item Type, e.g., book, to the collection. I was then able to add the necessary details, from my chosen Item Type in order to store, manage and cite bibliographic references.

As you can see from the screen capture below a New Collection named Technology has been added to My Library with an added resource named "Meaningful Learning with Technology."

I then clicked on the Notes icon so that I was able to write a brief description of the resource for future reference.

By reseraching Zotero I have been able to create a library that contains a collection of resources.

The screen capture below shows all of the resources that I have added to my library so far.

This screen capture demonstrates how easy it is to organise resources into collections with the option of adding notes for future reference.

As My Library has started to grow I realise how Zotero will be a useful referencing tool in my future studies at university and during my career as a future teacher. Zotero will save me time locating appropriate books, journals, articles etc... for either university assignments or teaching resources. Although I have not attempted to insert an in-text reference into a Word doc., from watching the screencast explaining how to insert citations into a Word doc., I think Zotero will definitely save me time in the future when referencing is required.