From CUNY Academic Commons

Many students are interested in ways of integrating citation managers, PDF annotators and cloud storage to create a research workflow. Though there is no universal, perfect working solution, your preferred software and devices will dictate which method works best for you.  

Here we outline research management system using the free software Zotero, Zotfile, Dropbox (2 GB free), and GoodReader ($4.99). 

The basics

Integrating Zotfile, GoodReader, Zotero and Dropbox

Zotero

  • First, create an account on Zotero, and download the Zotero firefox plugin (or standalone platform if you prefer).
  • Restart Firefox.
  • Open the Zotero plugin by clicking on the ‘Z’ or ‘Zotero’ in the bottom right corner of the window.
  • Sync your Zotero account by clicking the gear icon (third from the left), selecting preferences/sync and then entering your account info. If sync doesn’t begin automatically, click the circle arrow, second icon from the right.
  • Add PDF Indexing software by going to Preferences, Search and installing. (This allows the text within the PDF to be searchable. You can build the entire index in the preferences as well.)
  • You’re ready to add citations!

Adding Citations

Zotero allows you to easily input citations while browsing the web.  When Zotero recognizes citation information, an icon will show up on the right side of the URL window.  By clicking it, Zotero will automatically input citation information into your Zotero account. If a collections folder is highlighted, the citation will go into that folder.  Popular sites that Zotero usually recognizes are JSTOR, Wiki, Amazon, NYTimes and Google Scholar. 

Check out the other icons on the top area of the Zotero frame.  These will allow you add citations in different ways.  You can add citations by identifiers such as ISBN, DOI or PubMed ID.  This may take a minute to load but usually works.  You can also add websites through ‘snapshots’ that will preserve the websites content for future reference or manually add the citation.

Read more: http://www.zotero.org/support/getting_stuff_into_your_library

Adding personal PDF Collection

You can add your personal PDF collection by dragging and dropping multiple PDF files into the Zotero frame.  Right click on the items and request “retrieve meta data” which will enable Zotero to automatically search for the metadata and create a citation.  Note that dragging and dropping files will not remove them from their initial location.

‘Adding content from a tablet’or phone

On your web browser create a bookmark to any random page. Title it, ‘Save to Zotero.’ Go back and edit the link by pasting in a code.  For iPhones or iPads, use: javascript:var%20d%3Ddocument,s%3Dd.createElement(%27script%27)%3Bs.src%3D%27https://www.zotero.org/bookmarklet/loader.js%27%3B(d.body%3Fd.body:d.documentElement).appendChild(s)%3Bvoid(0)%3B

For other tablets and devices see: http://www.zotero.org/downloadbookmarklet

MS Word Plugin

Go to preferences/cite and install Word Processor Plugin
Add citations and bibliography from Word.

Zotfile / Dropbox / Goodreader
Dropbox set up:
1. Install dropbox on computer and set up account: www.dropbox.com
2. Create a zotero folder on dropbox. Mine is called “zotero.”

Download Zotfile for Standalone: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/zotfile/
right click and save file
go to Zotero standalone, tools and then click on add ons
Click the gear in the upper right corner and choose install add on from file
Go to extensions, activate Zotfile and restart
Go to Zotfile preferences/tablet settings. Choose your dropbox zotero folder.

2. Download Goodreader on your iphone or ipad.

1. Sync Goodreader to your zotero folder by selecting “add server.” Add your dropbox account.

2. Click on the server icon and select your ‘zotero’ folder. There should be an option to sync.

3. Send to tablet

1. Go to the pdf you want to annotate in your Zotero library.

2. Right click and select Manage Attachments/Send to tablet

3. Select Sync in Goodreader. Open your zotero folder.

4. Make annotations. Select sync again.

5. Back in Zotero library, right click on item and select Manage Attachments/Get from tablet

6. Enjoy your annotated pdf with notes and highlighted text.

Here are links that go over these steps in more detail, including working with ZotPad, a filemanager for Zotero use on one’s ipad.


http://sociologycafe.blogspot.com/2013/03/going-all-in-with-zotero-zotfile-zotpad.html
http://hastac.org/blogs/craigeley/2013/02/25/ipad-workflow-zotero-zotfile-zotpad
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/make-your-own-zotero-webdav-server-and-access-your-zotero-attachments-anywhere/38526
http://lucbeaulieu.com/tag/zotpad/
http://www.colleengreene.com/2012/09/14/managing-my-research-finally-going-all-in-with-zotero-webdav-and-zotpad/
http://blog.jessinohio.com/page/2/
http://zotpad.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/103784-which-file-storage-solution-should-i-use-