You can add a new folder to your library by clicking on the + sign next to "My Library."
Once you have added a folder, a text box next to the folder opens, and you can name your folder.
If you would like to rename your folder, you can do so by clicking on the three dots next to the folder.
You will notice several options, "Rename," "Delete," "New Subcollection," and "Move Collection." Click on "Rename." The textbox next to the folder will appear, and you can delete the old name and type in a new name for your folder.
In order to add to the new folder, you may drag and drop items from "My Library," or you can click on the + sign. See the "Saving Sources" page for more information.
In order to add a tag to an item in Zotero, first click on the item. To the right, you will see a screen that comes up with the headings, "Info," "Notes," "Tags," "Attachments," and "Related." Click on "Tags." You will see an "Add Tag" button.
Click on "Add Tag" and type in the desired tag, such as the subject matter, area of study, etc. In the example, I have typed in "Caribbean," and this prepopulates a suggested tag. You may use one of these or create one of your own.
The tag will automatically save. You may add multiple tags. In order to delete a tag, click on the minus sign next to the tag.
You can add columns to your document in order to help you organize your information. You can click on the "Column Selector" located in the upper right hand corner of the toolbar.
When you click on this button, you get several options. You can add as many or as few of these as you like.
These columns can be used for sorting the items in your library or in a folder.
Once you have the columns that you desire, you can use these to sort the items in your library. Sorting by title is the default setting, but you can also sort by "Creator," and this will put your items in alphabetical order by the author's last name. So, the reorganization might look something like this:
Note that "Campbell" comes first and that "Maglott" comes last alphabetically, so this is in alphabetical order by the author's last name. You can also do reverse alphabetical order simply by clicking on "Creator" a second time. You would then get this:
You can also sort by any of the other columns. For example, you could sort by the "Date Added" by clicking on "Date Added." This will put your items in order from the newest to the oldest date. If you click on the column again, the system will sort your items from the oldest to the newest date.
You can sort your items by clicking any of the columns that appear on the page.
You can use the search feature (upper right hand corner) to search your library and folders.
You can type into the search box a year, the title of a work, or the creator. You will not be able to do a general subject search, however, within the documents, so this is different from database searching or Google.
There are two ways to search on Zotero via your Desktop application. The first is the search box on the main screen.
The default is to set to "Everything," but you can change this by using the dropdown arrow. When you click on the dropdown arrow, will see the options "Title, Creator, Year," "All Fields & Tags," and "Everything." Using one of the first two options is a way to narrow down your search results should you desire to do so.
Another way that you can search on the Zotero Desktop application is by going to "Edit" on the toolbar and selecting "Advanced Search."
You will get a screen that looks like this:
Under "Match," you can select "Any" or "All." "Any" creates a general search for any of the terms, not necessarily together, that you typed into the search box, and "All" will search for all of the search terms together.
You can also search by any number of other fields from "Attachment Content" to "Title" to "Volume" and more. Click on "Title," and then click on the arrow next to "More" to see all of the options.
You can also search by "contains," "is," "is not," "begins with," and "does not contain." These act in a similar fashion to the Boolean operators of "And," "Or," and "Not."
You can also add a search box by click on the "+" sign or delete a search box by clicking on the "-" sign.
You can also choose where to search using the options "Search subcollections," such as subfolders within folders, or "Show only top-level items," such as folders. You can also search by "Include parent and child items of matching items," such as one folder that is connected to another folder which is further connected to a subfolder. This is similar to how some finding aids for archives are structured.
You can also save your search results so that you can access them at a later date. Click on the "Save Search" button, and a textbox will open up asking you to name the search. Provide a name that is relevant and easy to remember.
Once you click on "OK," you will see the saved search underneath your folders on the left side of the screen.
