The Zotero web site contains much information about setting preferences. On this page are some preferences you may want to consider setting in order to automate processes and to customize Zotero for your use at Bowdoin.
A wonderful feature of Zotero is the "Locate" function. After collecting or entering citation information, you can pull up a citation and search Bowdoin's collection of print and electronic resources for the item.
To set up Zotero to "Locate items" or search items using "Library Lookup" at Bowdoin:
1. At the top of the Zotero screen click on Edit>Preferences (on Windows) or Zotero>Settings (MAC).
2. Click on "Advanced"
3. Under "Open URL" enter the following the "Resolver" box: http://rp3yk7jm6a.search.serialssolutions.com/
By default Zotero data, citations, files, and screenshots, is saved to the "Firefox profile directory" a directory on the local computer or online to the Zotero server. If you will be using Zotero on multiple computers at Bowdoin that have access to the Bowdoin network, we recommend that you save your data to your network (h:/>) or "microwave" drive. Data saved in folders on the network drive are backed up on a regular basis.
To change where your data is saved:
1. Click on the "Action" icon, then click "Preferences"
2. Click on "Advanced"
3. Under "Data Directory Location," in the "Custom" box enter your preferred location or "Browse" to find the location.
4. Click on "OK" to save your data location
Although the citation format, i.e. APA or MLA, can be easily changed at any time and the chosen style does not change the information collected by Zotero, it is recommended that you set your preferred style if you you are going to create a "Quick Copy" bibliography.
To set the citation format or "export" style"
1. At the top of the Zotero screen click on Edit>Preferences (on Windows) or Zotero>Settings (MAC).
2. Click on "Export"
3. Then choose your preferred "Item Format"
4. Click on OK to save the format
Because of the file size of PDF documents and limited file space on the Zotero server, the default in Zotero is to not automatically save PDF documents attached to citations. However, Zotero does a good job in determining when PDFs are attached to citations and if you are expect to use JSTOR and Google scholar quite a bit, you may want to change the PDF default setting.
To automatically save PDFs attached to citations:
1. At the top of the Zotero screen click on Edit>Preferences (on Windows) or Edit>Preferences (on MAC).
2. Click on "General"
3. Under "Miscellaneous," check the box "Automatically attach associated PDFs and other files when saving items."
4. Click on "OK" to save preference
