Zotero: Citation management software

Register for a Zotero account

1. Go to http://zotero.org
2. Click Log-in
3. Select Register for a free account

Sync Zotero to Cloud Storage, and across computers

1. Open Zotero Standalone program on your computer
2. From the menu, select: Edit > Preferences > Sync  
3. Enter your username and password and decide which content you would like to sync. 

• Zotero provides 300MB free space.  When you reach that you can:
  • Buy additional storage space: https://www.zotero.org/storage 
  • Unsync PDF files on your machine

4. After syncing, you will notice a small green arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the Zotero programme.  Each time you add new content, it will turn, syncing the information to Zotero cloud storage.  

• Pro tip: Click the green arrow before you end for the day.  If you use another computer in a different location, click the green arrow after launching the programme.  This will ensure content stays synced between two computers.

Searching SMU Libraries for Full Text in Zotero

If you have a citation saved in Zotero but no attached PDF, you can use Zotero’s Library Lookup feature to search SMU Libraries’ collection.

Step 1: Configure the resolver

1. In Zotero, go to Edit > Settings > General.

2. Locate the Resolver field.

3. Enter this URL:

https://search.library.smu.edu.sg/openurl/65SMU_INST/65SMU_INST:SMU_NUI

Step 2: Search for full text

1. In Zotero, select a citation record without a PDF.

2. In the right-hand panel, click the arrow icon (side menu bar).

3. Choose Library Lookup.

Step 3: Access and save the PDF

If SMU has access, a browser window will open at the source. From there, you can:

• Download the PDF and manually attach it to the Zotero record, OR
• Use the Zotero browser connector to capture both the citation and the PDF.

If you end up with duplicate records, merge them to keep your Zotero library tidy.