Zotero Group Library

On this page, we offer a few tips on working with Zotero:

• First of all, please remember, that all changes to the Group Library are synced with all other users. Anything you do will also effect the same changes on all other group member's machines. So please be careful!
  Sometimes, if things have gone far astray, it might be easier to delete your local Zotero installation and start with a clean slate. Please talk to other group members if you're not sure how to tackle a problem.
• Adding Metadata not found automatically:
  For some pdfs, Zotero is unable to extract Metadata. The fastest way to add metadata is finding the article online and either use the Zotero import button, or copy the plain-text citation and in Zotero click on the Gear Symbol and select “Import from Clipboard”. This will create a new entry, onto which you can drag the unidentifiable pdf.
  Once the pdf is associated with the citation, you can also right-click on the pdf and select “Rename File from Parent Metadata” to give the pdf a more meaningful name.
• Import paper from group into personal library:
• See all collections containing this item (paper):
  Select an item/citation and hold the alt key. Zotero will then highlight all collections on the left navigation pane that contain this citation
• See unfiled and duplicate items:
  Right-click on the Group library icon and select “Show duplicates” and “Show unfiled items”
• Use Zotfile:
• Change the Citation handles in the Exported BibTeX file:
  From http://www.curiousjason.com/zoterotobibtex.html
  Another somewhat annoying "feature" of Zotero is that when exporting to bibtex, it automatically sets the key for you. Many people have preferred key styles. This introduces two problems - for old references, you want your old key, not an autogenerated one, secondly, for new references, you would like the key in "your style". The second problem is relatively easily solved:
  1. Find the file: ~/.mozilla/XXXXXXX/zotero/translators/BibTeX.js, where XXXXXXXX will be some random string
  2. The line to change is:
     var citeKeyFormat = "%a_%t_%y";
     For example, I changed it to
     var citeKeyFormat = "%a%y%t";
     %a is first author, %t is first word from title, %y is the year.
  3. I also prefer two digit years. For as long as I can foresee myself living, 2 digit years are sufficient. To "fix" this, change the line with date.year (line 1848 in the version when this was written) to:
     return date.year.toString().substring(2);
  4. You can also use another field if you prefer, e.g. call number, by changing
     var citekey = buildCiteKey(item, citekeys);
     to
     var citekey = item.callNumber;