Zotero

Down in Columbus the grad students have all been doing a lot of reading and some writing. Soon we will be doing more writing than reading, and we will need to do A LOT of citing of references. Recently in our Entomology Seminar we were taught how to use EndNote to build a reference database and help us cite as we write. It's a great program with a great history and a lot of support by the scientific community. I use Zotero, a free program that can do most of the same things, and has the potential to be even more powerful than EndNote. So here is my explanation of the features that Zotero brings to the table.

You need to use Mozilla Firefox as a browser in order to use Zotero, but you do not need an internet connection for it to run. Within this three-paned program that attaches to your browser you can manually add references by filling in the fields like Author, Title, Date and Journal. Alternatively, by visiting a journal database like JSTOR or Google Scholar, your Zotero program will notify you with a little symbol in the address bar that it can automatically add all pertinent information to your library for you. It can also add multiple references at a time based off of a list of search results. When Zotero makes the reference in your library it will automatically link it to the internet database page where the document can be downloaded. You have to download the .pdf separately and link it to the reference yourself if you want full access to your references without internet. The references are easy to organize into sublibraries, but a downside here is that the program has no way to automatically detect and prevent duplicate references.

Once you have a library set up you can link the entire library to your word processor with a simple plug-in for adding citations on the fly. This will simultaneously build your bibliography for you. Zotero comes with a set of basic citation formats, but you can download and install many other styles from an ever-growing list on their website. For example, you can write an entire paper with Nature style numerical citations and decide to change it to Harvard style (Name date) parenthetical citations with a couple of clicks. Deleting a reference from your database will not automatically delete it from your Word document, but changing misspellings in your library will be reflected in your in-text citations by clicking a "refresh" button on your Zotero plug-in.

Additionally, if you use Google Scholar you can set your Bibliography Manager preference to "Show links to import citations into EndNote" and Zotero will interpret the information. For ISI Web of Science it is a bit trickier because you have to build an EndNote Web library and export that to your computer as a .txt file, and then import it to Zotero. In this case it is dependent on EndNote Web, but does not require a subscription to the stand alone program. Doing it this way will not link the references to their internet location, but the reference information will be complete and you can link .pdfs manually as usual.

Where the program really shines is in its community. It's called an "open-source" program, which means anyone can submit changes and build to the program with proper know-how. Similar to Wikipedia, this program is always getting new information from its users and the creators make sure that the good ideas get in the updated versions. All downloads and updates are free. If you decide to try it out, or make the switch you can readily import/export library information to most other major database programs, including EndNote. One of my favorite features is that you can have one Firefox window open to browse the web and have another window with Zotero up and running. The program won't take over both windows. Finally, because Zotero isn't a for-profit company, their website and forums function as their "getting started wizard" and tech support unit. Since the typical Zotero users are people in higher-education with a knack for problem solving, their discussions are very helpful.

I recognize that to some, it may seem unreliable or uncomfortable to try and complete research using an "unfinished" program, but I would argue that the incremental changing of the program is what makes it better and potentially more powerful than EndNote. The community at large is whittling and honing the program to perform optimally, much like how natural selection directs evolution along a continuum of speciation or how water erosion shapes shards of glass into well-rounded jewels. A for-profit company can't pay enough people to do that.

Not your average agroecology post, eh? Have a good weekend!