Also ANSWER, the Library of Michigan's catalog.
OneSearch Guide
OneSearch is the central index to the library's collections. There are 4 search options within OneSearch: Everything, Articles, Library Catalog, and Course Reserves. Each tab below details how to search in these options. Two separate tabs walk you through requesting something via Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The last tab, Using Advanced Search, describes ways to use that method across all 4 options.
Suggest a Topic: If you have a topic you would like to see represented in this guide, send us Feedback.
Everything, the default search, will search all of the collections at once. It can be overwhelming because of the sheer number of hits that result. You might consider limiting your search to the Library Catalog or Articles. It's up to you.
A search for climate change, from the search box on the library homepage, looks like this:
The search from here is immediately in Everything, which brings back, in this example, nearly 11 million results! That's too many. Searching from now on, once you're in OneSearch, allows you to tell the system where to search.
Let's alter our search by putting quotes around "climate change", because it's a phrase. We aren't interested in climate or change by themselves, but the phrase "climate change". We'll still search Everything, and get over 7 million this time, but then we'll narrow the results down even more.
Off to the right-hand side of your over 7 million hits is "Refine your results". Here is where you have the power to significantly narrow down your reults. The image below, adjusted for space, indicates what you can narrow your results to.
As you can see, there is a lot of sorting and narrowing down you can do. If you find something that is not available immediately, request it. The image below is what you'll see. The Interlibrary Loan tab on this guide walks you through this process.
Articles searches the full-text of peer-reviewed journals, magazines, newspapers and other periodicals. It also searches the full-text of ebooks, streaming video, dissertations/theses, conference papers, and government documents. It really is a lot more than what you might consider articles. Keeping with our "climate change" example, let's limit the results to articles:
To limit these results to Peer-Reviewed Journals, Click the Peer-reviewed journals link on the right-hand side to limit results to this type of material. If limiting to multiple availability options, click each checkbox then click Apply Filters.
This will further narrow down your results--can you see a pattern? The more you select, the narrower your results. Articles available online will indicate such 
and might require you to log in with your NMU username and password and 2-factor authentication to a database:
If you see an article that you want but OneSearch indicates that there is no online access, request it. The image below is what you'll see. The Interlibrary Loan tab on this guide walks you through this process.
Library Catalog searches the complete holdings of the library's print and electronic collection. This includes books, book chapter titles, video and sound recordings, maps and government documents, and the Pre-K thru 12 collection. You will not find articles in a Library Catalog search. Video: How to find a book (1:18). Video: How to find an ebook (1:45).
The default list is relevance--you may want to sort by date or title--it's up to you. You also can limit your results to what we have physically in the library or results that are electronic only (you can view these anywhere on your device) as well as the material type.
You are also able to limit your search to a particular author, date, language, etc, including location.
Clicking on the title of a book (or DVD or whatever NMU has in its physical collection) brings up more information. In this example, this publication is both here at the library and online:
Limit results to: Holocaust Collection. As part of your search include the phrase "NMU Holocaust"., and you can further limit your results to various Material Types (books, videos, etc.) in the "Refine your results" section.
Course Reserves, will look for those items (usually books or a video) set aside by your professor for a specific course. These often have a limit of 2 hours in-library use only. To search, simply type in your class number. For example, DFST 252. The material is available at the service desk.
In addition to requesting a book through OneSearch, you can also search for and request books through MelCat and WorldCat directly.
As much as you have access to electronically, even more is available elsewhere with just a short wait. Within OneSearch it is easy to request books or media or articles that are owned by another library. Here is a book we do not have:
There is no call number and no indication of online access. "Check for available services" really means "Pleases sign in to check if there are any request options". Click the Sign in text. You will be prompted to sign in with your NMU credentials and, if you've activated it, your 2-factor authentication:
Once you are signed in, you have a choice on which kind of ILL service you'd like. Request @ MelCat is a statewide system for Michigan libraries (the item might arrive faster), while the @ Interlibrary is nationwide.
And here I have to stop and say that we are working out some bugs. If you have gotten this far within OneSearch and have noticed "things aren't right", you are correct. Give us a call or Ask Us (right hand side) of screen, and we'll sort things out. We appreciate your patience.
Within OneSearch (and most databases), requesting an article that NMU does not have is the same as requesting a book we do not have. Video: Interlibrary loan of an article (some sign-in images have changed since) (2:36). Within databases, look for the Get it@NMU link; within OneSearch, "Check for available services" really means "Pleases sign in to check if there are any request options". Click the Sign in text. You will be prompted to sign in with your NMU credentials and, if you've activated it, your 2-factor authentication:
Once you have signed on, you will be prompted to pick a method: pick Request Article @ InterLibrary Loan. MelCat does not lend articles.
Clicking that link opens up another window. All that remains is for you to type in your phone number and select request. We'll take it from here. You will get an email immediately telling you that we have received it, and in a few days, an email with a link to the article. The video at the top of this tab explains it a bit more.
To the right of the search box, once you have made a search, is Advanced Search. Although most people continue to use the single search box, it is to your advantage to switch to the advanced search screen. It may look intimidating, but it gives you the means to make a better search. Each of the 4 search options can be searched this way.
You can change where you want to search. This is helpful in narrowing down resources to relevant ones. For example, in the search below, "great lakes" has been changed to subject, microplastics has also been added as a subject, and a third line has been added with fish. Your searches can be created the same way.
33 results is a manageble number to look through. Further narrowing down is possible (material type, date, availability, etc).
Introduction to Geographic Research
Reference Resources (on 3rd floor unless otherwise noted)
Encyclopedia of geography terms, themes, and concepts. G63 .H38 2011
Dictionary of Geography, 2nd ed. G 63 M39 1997. (4th and 5th editions online)
What is Geography? ebook
Atlases can be found in the G1000 call number: in the map collection, and the circulating collection.
Encyclopedia of Landforms, vols 1-3. GB 406 .N35 2003
The Handbook of Geographic Information Science, G70.2 H356 2008.
Issues of national importance that have appeared in the news might have been covered in detail in CQ Researcher at one time or another.
Internet & Government Resources
Evaluating Internet Resources: Your topics will undoubtedly have concerned interest groups and organizations with their own web presence wanting to convince you one way or another on the subject. Give the groups a very critical look; be skeptical. In most cases these websites will link to other resources, and so on.
GreyNet International
Grey Literature: "Information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body." This authoritative web resource points you in the direction of publications, mainly in the sciences, from so-called "Grey Literature". Another source: GreyLit.org.
Voice of the Shuttle. Eclectic collection of links from UC Santa Barbara.
General Government Documents Resources
USA.gov. Official search engine for the Federal Government (but also includes state, local, and tribal governments as well). Includes all domain names associated with the government besides .gov and.mil.
Catalog of Government Publications from the Government Publishing Office. Many online publications directly available from this resource; updated daily.
Search across up to 75 government agencies with MetaLib.
Collections include Environment, Science & Technology, Agriculture, Recreation, Travel & Transportation, and Business & Economy. You can also narrow your search to specific resources within each topic.
Congressional Research Service, the research arm of Congress. These reports (CRS Reports) provide a background for upcoming legislation or a current topic of interest. There is no one, single source for them. The Dudley Knox Library has a webpage listing where these reports are found. Many are now increasingly available in the Catalog of Government Publications.
The Federal Register.
Contains notices, proposed rules, final rules, and Presidential documents. In the case of many proposed and finalized rules, a lengthy background of the topic is provided.
National Centers for Environmental Information
NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly the National Climate Data Center) is the world's largest active archive of weather data.
NOAA Central Library
Links to digitized materials (NOAA publications, ebooks, etc). And their individual collections (found on the blue bar across the page). NMU may or may not have access to the ebooks they offer up in a search--let me (Bruce Sarjeant) know if you'd like a copy.
WorldWideScience
Developed and maintained by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), this multilingual resource is a global science gateway comprised of national and international scientific databases and portals.
List of statistical sources from NMU's Government Documents webpage.
Michigan & Upper Peninsula Resources
NMU's Michigan Government Documents webpage and Local & Regional webpage. Also, Portals to the Past: A Bibliographical and Resource Guide to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, by Dr. Russell Magnaghi, has an extensive collection of citations.
USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center.
MSU Extension. And nationally, extension.org. Extension services have provided non-formal education and learning activities to people throughout the country — to farmers and other residents of rural communities as well as to people living in urban areas. They emphasize taking the knowledge gained through research and education and bringing it directly to the people to create positive changes.
Woody Invasives. Woody Invasives of the Great Lakes (WIGL) Collaborative.
Specific Agencies (with a geographic subject matter?)
USGS Publications Warehouse. Searchable index of materials dating back to 1880. Many are full-text. The website contains additional links to USGS resources.
National Technical Reports Library.
Treesearch. U.S. Forest Service research database. Includes many non-agency and peer-reviewed publications that pertain to managing forests--water, air, animals, insects, trails, etc.
National Park Service Data Store. Their "Quick Search"--begin typing in the name of the park you are interested in.
Agricola and PubAg. Both from the National Agriculture Library and both are worth looking in. PubAg has newer and more peer-reviewed resources.
Also from the USDA is the National Forest Service Library.
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Environmental Protection Agency.
U.S. Census Bureau. And Michigan-specific numbers/data.
Digital collections from the Library of Congress.
Data.gov: Federal, State, and Local geographic data. More links can be found on the GIS Resources page.
Research Tips and Advice, Geography and Otherwise.
Zotero. See the tab above with steps to download the program.
What citation style does your professor want you to use?. Chicago? APA? MLA? Zotero can help you with these (they have over 10K different ones, over 60 specific to "geography"). As neat as Zotero is (and other programs like them are), always check your end results against the proper, authoritative citation style guide and edit appropriately.
Purdue University's The OWL. A well-known and popular website for writing resources.
Citing a map? The Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives has posted a guide Best Practices in Citation of Cartographic Materials.
NMU's Writing Center. It's yours. Use it.
Annotated bibliography: Writing an Annotated Bibliography (University of Guelph), and some examples: Climate Ready Great Lakes: An Annotated Bibliography, and Core List for an Environmental Reference Collection (from the EPA), Fire–Climate Interactions in the Southwest: Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography (USDA).
Communicating in geography and the environmental sciences, 3rd.ed. G70 H35 2006.
Evaluating research in academic journals: a practical guide to realistic evaluation, 4th ed. H 62 .P97 2008
Writing literature reviews: a guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences. H 61.8 .G3 1999
Geography, history, and concepts: a student's guide. Holt-Jensen, Arlid. G70 .H613 1999
Integrating Stakeholders and Users into the Geography Discipline's Research Process. A publication from the USGS. To sum up: remember who you are writing with, for and to.
Critically analyzing information sources. Resource from Cornell. Please consult this and the Evaluating Internet Resources mentioned previously.
Professional Associations, Blogs, and Social Media
Association of American Geographers. Publisher of the Annals of the AAG (G3 .A7) and The Professional Geographer(G3 .P7) .
American Geographical Society. Publisher of The Geographical Review (G1 .G35).
The Canadian Association of Geographers. Publisher of The Canadian Geographer (G1 .C29).
The Geographical Association (UK). Publisher of Geography (G73 .A15).
CataList: The Official Catalog of LISTSERV Lists (yes, LISTSERVs are still a thing). Sign up for one or more in your field. As for blogs, Antipode (a Radical Geography Community) has a list of them, and a list of "Geographers that blog (relatively frequently)" from Sam Kinsley--dates from 2016. From Feedspot, the Top 60 Geography Blogs & Websites in 2022.
Perhaps you've found a researcher in your field that has one or has a social networking presence: follow them.
Sign up for publisher alerts through your favorite social networking program, from within a database or directly from the publisher.
Environmental Policy and Regulation
Popular Names of Acts in the U.S. Code. From Cornell's Legal Information Institute.
The US Environmental Protection Agency, Laws & Regulations. And their National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP).
The Federal Register. Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. Environment has its own section. In Michigan, it's the Michigan Register.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports on the environment. These reports, created by the investigative arm of Congress (usually for pending legislation--on any topic), provide an excellent background for a topic. They are not easy to obtain nor are they available from one source and they cover any topic you could think of. From the Federation of American Scientists (Miscellaneous Topics might be the best place to look there), University of North Texas, Fulltextreports, Every CRS Report, and a new one from Congress.gov.
Congress.gov from the Library of Congress. The official source for federal legislative information. Track what's happening in Congress now and see what has happened in the past (back to 1995).
At our state level is the Michigan Legislative Website.
Two Congressional Committees you might want to follow: The House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on the Environment & Public Works. At the state level, the House Committee on Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation and in the Senate, the Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes Committee.
USA.gov is the official government search portal. A search here is only going to return government resources (at all levels). Or you can narrow your search from the start with a topic on Earth and the Environment.
OneSearch might return too many resources on your topic. You might consider a subject-specific database (Business & Economics, for example).
Additional Library Resources
The Congressional Quarterly Almanac - KF 49 C652 (3rd floor, non-circulating) and online back to the 79th Congress [1945]). An excellent resource that provides some of the backgrounds behind the issues for each Congress. Publication is laid out by topic and Congress (Environment, Climate, and Natural Resources are one of the topics).
Free resources concerning politics: RollCall, Politico, The Hill. Covers politics in Washington, D.C. Follow bills, people, actions, etc. A companion to these freely available sources (which is a subscription database) is CQ Researcher (which delves into the background of an issue).
Congressional Digest (Pro & Con Online). Offering an "impartial view of controversial issues" since 1921. Requires your NMU username and password. This also delves into the background of an issue. Once inside this resource, I recommend using the Index (chronological or by topic) to obtain your topic.
The Environmental Law Reporter. NMU does not subscribe to this journal, but you can get a peek at it through the publisher's website. Articles can be requested via interlibrary loan.
The WWW
You will no doubt use your favorite search engine to locate resources. What have you really found? Is it worthwhile for your research? Give the resource a closer look at using these internet evaluation questions. Use every trick you know to determine the validity of a website you find. There are going to be some very strong opinions (as opposed to fact) and deep pockets behind these websites.
From Harvard is a Think Tank search engine. They have selected over 1200 of them for inclusion.
News sources: Environment News Service, Earth Times, Society of Environmental Journalists,
Environmental Law resources from Justia's Virtual Chase.
MLA citation style guide. For legal citations, MLA recommends The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. CUNY has a .pdf to assist with this.
Most of you took GC205: Research Methods in Geography. Much of what was taught then is relevant now (annotated bibliography, your same topics [if you're using them] and the research techniques).
Environmental Impact Assessment
"There is more than one place to look for these, and no one source is perfect"
*Locating Environmental Impact Statements Online
General Sources
Catalog of Government Publications
In their Advanced Search, use the following: "final environmental impact statement" OR "final EIS". Publications are sorted new to old, and if any are online, the URL will appear off to the right of the record. You can search OneSearch in the same fashion, although our physical holdings of EIS's are small and of a local nature.
USA.gov search
USA.gov, the official web portal to the U.S. Government, will search all Federal agency websites (as well as state and local government websites). The results may not always lead to an actual EIS. Also, search with the phrase "final EIS" or even perhaps FEIS. Clicking on this link will automatically search for "final environmental impact statement".
Federal Register Search
The Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. Announcements of and ways to view environmental impact statements are made frequently. The link is set to search for "final environmental impact statement".
Specific Agencies
All Federal agencies can issue an EIS (and each probably has a slightly different way of writing them), but the agencies listed below are your best bet.
Environmental Protection Agency’s National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)
Go to the advanced search screen, search using "final environmental impact statement" (or "final EIS" in a separate search)-don't forget to select exact phrase. Uncheck the "Hardcopy Publications" box. You might also need to select additional dates. Documents can be downloaded in .pdf.
An additional EPA search tool is the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Database, which has documents from 1987 onward.
Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy.
For each of these agencies, conduct two separate searches in the search box: “final environmental impact statement”, “final EIS”. The results will appear to mimic those of the USA.gov search, but will contain additional resources.
And look locally or regionally--websites for the state, a local city, township, or county: do they have an EIS available online for a proposed, current, or finished project?
The EPA has instructions for obtaining an Environmental Impact Statement from elsewhere off their National Environmental Policy Act website.
A Citizen's Guide to the NEPA: Having Your Voice Heard. Small publication that provides an explanation of NEPA, how it is implemented, and how people outside the Federal government — individual citizens, private sector applicants, members of organized groups, or representatives of Tribal, State, or local government agencies — can better participate in the assessment of environmental impacts conducted by Federal agencies.
Environmental Impact Statement Writing Resources--Federal and State
The Environmental Style: Writing Environmental Assessments & Impact Statements. From the U.S. Department of Energy. And a similar webpage from the National Parks Service. The Fish & Wildlife Service has guidelines as well.
Michigan DOT Environmental Impact Statement process.
California Department of Transportation EIS Guidelines.
Considerations for impact reporting from the Alaska Sea Grant.
Very specific information on Environmental Impact Statements from The Depleted UF6 Management Information Network from the US Department of Energy.
Zotero
(Revised 12/20/2020)
Zotero is a free research manager which helps you collect, organize, and manage your sources. This application works with Google Chrome, FireFox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, & Safari web browsers, and integrates with word processing programs such as MS Word & Google Docs. Zotero facilitates quick in-text citing, and one-click generation of references according to a multitude of styles including APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, & journal-specific.
Creating an account on Zotero's website allows you to sync your collections to a central point (300MB free) from multiple computers (such as work & home). It also allows you to create groups.
Minimum operating system requirements for Zotero version 5.x:
macOS 10.11 or later, including Big Sur and Monterey
Windows 7 or later
Linux
More detailed system requirements available here: https://www.zotero.org/support/system_requirements
The following steps will walk you through how to install Zotero on your browser.
Save documents & close all programs other than web browser before proceeding. This includes your word processor software.
Rationale: In order to finish the installation, Zotero may need to reboot your computer.
Rationale: The Zotero Connector which allows downloading information from the browser into
Zotero only works with these versions of the browser:
Chrome: Version 55 or higher
FireFox: Version 52 or higher
Safari 10–12 (see Safari Compatibility for Safari 13)
Firefox
Once you have opened Firefox, you need to check that it is version 52 or higher. To do this, go to
the menu heading "Help", and select "About Firefox" (see screen shot below). If it says you have a
lower-numbered version, Mozilla will automatically download & install the latest version of FireFox.
Google Chrome
Once you have opened Chrome, you need to check that it is version 55 or higher. To do this,
go to the upper-right corner and click on three dots (see screen shot below), highlight "Help", and select
"About Google Chrome". If it says you have a lower-numbered version, Google will automatically
download & install the latest version of Chrome.
Once you have the latest version of your browser, open it, download Zotero and install the program. The
download interface automatically recognizes your specific browser and operating system and provides
the appropriate choice.
If you receive a message preventing this site (www.zotero.org) from installing software on your computer,
click on the Allow button.
Proceed through the Setup Wizard. When asked about Setup Type (screen below), we recommend choosing Standard. You will be able to customize it later.
Once installed you will be prompted to Reboot your computer (see below).
After you click on Finish, your computer will reboot.
Open your browser & go to the Download page to install the Connector. The download interface
automatically recognizes your specific browser and operating system, and provides the
appropriate choice.
This plugin allows you to create a bibliography, in-text citations, and footnotes or endnotes from within word processing software.
Note that Zotero version 5.x automatically installs the plugin for Microsoft Word.
Open Microsoft Word, and click on the Zotero tab to display tools:
Using Google Docs? No plugin required. Click here for Zotero support documentation.
Using LibreOffice? Click here for plugin.
You do not need to register your Zotero account but you may want to do this at a later date as there are a
number of advantages including the ability to sync your citations to the Zotero site, allowing you to
access them from any computer at any time.
Modified 2/25/2021
Zotero is a free Web application developed for Firefox, Chrome, & Safari web browsers that allows you to quickly cite in-text and format references in a multitude of styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.). Zotero allows you to collect, manage, cite, and share references you've collected for your research.
This guide will walk you through modifying the Preferences tabs screens to configure Zotero.
Important: This guide is intended for users who have just installed Zotero for the first time.
If you already have entries loaded into a past Zotero installation, we recommend you backup your Zotero folder before proceeding, and then after completing customizing, copy your old Zotero folder to a new location on either the Desktop or in Documents.
Please connect to the Internet while configuring Zotero.
If you have not yet downloaded and installed Zotero, please see the Library's Installing Zotero guide for directions with screen shots.
Please Skip this step if your Zotero already contains entries!
You need to decide where to save your Zotero files & retrieved articles. We highly recommend saving to either Documents, or to the Desktop (makes it much easier when migrating to a new computer or quickly backing up), so the first step is to create a New folder in that place & name it: Zotero To access the Preferences settings, open Zotero, then click on the Edit menu choice, and select Preferences:
Advanced tab -- Files and Folders sub-tab
Under Data Directory Location, click on the Choose button and select the newly-created Zotero folder which appears on your Desktop.
Zotero will add the information to the screen similar to above, but with your username.
You will be prompted that it must re-start Zotero.
Modify OpenURL Custom Resolver:
Replace: http://worldcatlibraries.org/registry/gateway
With: https://nmu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01NOMICH_INST:NMU&lang=en&mode=advanced
[either copy & paste, or right-click & Copy link address & paste]
On the General tab you may adjust the User Interface Layout, Font size, & Note font size (recommendations below).
A new feature in Version 5.0 is selecting the Layout (red outline below):
Standard Layout displays a selected entry on the right side of the list of items.
Stacked Layout displays a selected entry underneath the list of items.
All boxes are checked by default.
New to version 5.0.36 are changes to indexing PDFs, which is now automatic--no separate installer needed.
Only use if you plan on creating an account & using storage on Zotero server for yourself or group work.
Sync is also beneficial if you are using multiple computers (e.g., work & home) to manage sources.
Enter the username & password used when you created account on Zotero web site.
Note that Sync does not replace making regular backups of your local Zotero files, and cannot be used to restore your Zotero files if your hard drive is damaged or requires re-imaging
PDF Indexing is a feature which allows you to drag-and-drop previously downloaded pdf files into Zotero, and then have it search for metadata on that file & create an entry for you.
As Zotero facilitates creating your own "library" of sources, enabling PDF Indexing will include those sources when searching within Zotero.
Beginning with Zotero version 5.0.36, this screen shows indexing statistics.
This is another area where you should set the Default style you will use. Note that you may always change the default. Under the Default Output Format, click on the drop arrow to change style.
There are over 9,000 citation styles available for Zotero including many styles based on individual journal titles. Zotero only comes configured with the more popular styles but you may add any of the other styles while inside of Zotero.
After clicking on the Cite tab, click on the Styles sub-tab.
Next, locate the style from the list & click on it to select.If you do not see your specific style, click on the Get additional styles... link (see screen shot below) which will open the Zotero Style Repository, and search for your style. Left-click on the style name to select, which will then load that template into Zotero.
Citation Options - Real important especially for APA, MLA, & Chicago styles
Check the box next to the label: Include URLs of paper articles in references.
It is highly recommended using the classic insert citation interface. So on the Word Processors sub-tab,
check the box next to the label: Use classic Add Citation dialog
Important: You MUST click the OK button to save all changes.
You are now ready to use Zotero.
As with most things, Zotero is not perfect. Always check your citations for accuracy. Zotero will not correct data or capitalized titles for instance. Be sure to check the data for each citation. You can always edit the citations in Zotero.
Citation Tools
Zotero
(Revised 12/20/2020)
Zotero is a free research manager which helps you collect, organize, and manage your sources. This application works with Google Chrome, FireFox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, & Safari web browsers, and integrates with word processing programs such as MS Word & Google Docs. Zotero facilitates quick in-text citing, and one-click generation of references according to a multitude of styles including APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, & journal-specific.
Creating an account on Zotero's website allows you to sync your collections to a central point (300MB free) from multiple computers (such as work & home). It also allows you to create groups.
Minimum operating system requirements for Zotero version 5.x:
macOS 10.11 or later, including Big Sur and Monterey
Windows 7 or later
Linux
More detailed system requirements available here: https://www.zotero.org/support/system_requirements
The following steps will walk you through how to install Zotero on your browser.
Save documents & close all programs other than web browser before proceeding. This includes your word processor software.
Rationale: In order to finish the installation, Zotero may need to reboot your computer.
Rationale: The Zotero Connector which allows downloading information from the browser into
Zotero only works with these versions of the browser:
Chrome: Version 55 or higher
FireFox: Version 52 or higher
Safari 10–12 (see Safari Compatibility for Safari 13)
Firefox
Once you have opened Firefox, you need to check that it is version 52 or higher. To do this, go to
the menu heading "Help", and select "About Firefox" (see screen shot below). If it says you have a
lower-numbered version, Mozilla will automatically download & install the latest version of FireFox.
Google Chrome
Once you have opened Chrome, you need to check that it is version 55 or higher. To do this,
go to the upper-right corner and click on three dots (see screen shot below), highlight "Help", and select
"About Google Chrome". If it says you have a lower-numbered version, Google will automatically
download & install the latest version of Chrome.
Once you have the latest version of your browser, open it, download Zotero and install the program. The
download interface automatically recognizes your specific browser and operating system and provides
the appropriate choice.
If you receive a message preventing this site (www.zotero.org) from installing software on your computer,
click on the Allow button.
Proceed through the Setup Wizard. When asked about Setup Type (screen below), we recommend choosing Standard. You will be able to customize it later.
Once installed you will be prompted to Reboot your computer (see below).
After you click on Finish, your computer will reboot.
Open your browser & go to the Download page to install the Connector. The download interface
automatically recognizes your specific browser and operating system, and provides the
appropriate choice.
This plugin allows you to create a bibliography, in-text citations, and footnotes or endnotes from within word processing software.
Note that Zotero version 5.x automatically installs the plugin for Microsoft Word.
Open Microsoft Word, and click on the Zotero tab to display tools:
Using Google Docs? No plugin required. Click here for Zotero support documentation.
Using LibreOffice? Click here for plugin.
You do not need to register your Zotero account but you may want to do this at a later date as there are a
number of advantages including the ability to sync your citations to the Zotero site, allowing you to
access them from any computer at any time.
Modified 2/25/2021
Zotero is a free Web application developed for Firefox, Chrome, & Safari web browsers that allows you to quickly cite in-text and format references in a multitude of styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.). Zotero allows you to collect, manage, cite, and share references you've collected for your research.
This guide will walk you through modifying the Preferences tabs screens to configure Zotero.
Important: This guide is intended for users who have just installed Zotero for the first time.
If you already have entries loaded into a past Zotero installation, we recommend you backup your Zotero folder before proceeding, and then after completing customizing, copy your old Zotero folder to a new location on either the Desktop or in Documents.
Please connect to the Internet while configuring Zotero.
If you have not yet downloaded and installed Zotero, please see the Library's Installing Zotero guide for directions with screen shots.
Please Skip this step if your Zotero already contains entries!
You need to decide where to save your Zotero files & retrieved articles. We highly recommend saving to either Documents, or to the Desktop (makes it much easier when migrating to a new computer or quickly backing up), so the first step is to create a New folder in that place & name it: Zotero To access the Preferences settings, open Zotero, then click on the Edit menu choice, and select Preferences:
Advanced tab -- Files and Folders sub-tab
Under Data Directory Location, click on the Choose button and select the newly-created Zotero folder which appears on your Desktop.
Zotero will add the information to the screen similar to above, but with your username.
You will be prompted that it must re-start Zotero.
Modify OpenURL Custom Resolver:
Replace: http://worldcatlibraries.org/registry/gateway
With: https://nmu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01NOMICH_INST:NMU&lang=en&mode=advanced
[either copy & paste, or right-click & Copy link address & paste]
On the General tab you may adjust the User Interface Layout, Font size, & Note font size (recommendations below).
A new feature in Version 5.0 is selecting the Layout (red outline below):
Standard Layout displays a selected entry on the right side of the list of items.
Stacked Layout displays a selected entry underneath the list of items.
All boxes are checked by default.
New to version 5.0.36 are changes to indexing PDFs, which is now automatic--no separate installer needed.
Only use if you plan on creating an account & using storage on Zotero server for yourself or group work.
Sync is also beneficial if you are using multiple computers (e.g., work & home) to manage sources.
Enter the username & password used when you created account on Zotero web site.
Note that Sync does not replace making regular backups of your local Zotero files, and cannot be used to restore your Zotero files if your hard drive is damaged or requires re-imaging
PDF Indexing is a feature which allows you to drag-and-drop previously downloaded pdf files into Zotero, and then have it search for metadata on that file & create an entry for you.
As Zotero facilitates creating your own "library" of sources, enabling PDF Indexing will include those sources when searching within Zotero.
Beginning with Zotero version 5.0.36, this screen shows indexing statistics.
This is another area where you should set the Default style you will use. Note that you may always change the default. Under the Default Output Format, click on the drop arrow to change style.
There are over 9,000 citation styles available for Zotero including many styles based on individual journal titles. Zotero only comes configured with the more popular styles but you may add any of the other styles while inside of Zotero.
After clicking on the Cite tab, click on the Styles sub-tab.
Next, locate the style from the list & click on it to select.If you do not see your specific style, click on the Get additional styles... link (see screen shot below) which will open the Zotero Style Repository, and search for your style. Left-click on the style name to select, which will then load that template into Zotero.
Citation Options - Real important especially for APA, MLA, & Chicago styles
Check the box next to the label: Include URLs of paper articles in references.
It is highly recommended using the classic insert citation interface. So on the Word Processors sub-tab,
check the box next to the label: Use classic Add Citation dialog
Important: You MUST click the OK button to save all changes.
You are now ready to use Zotero.
As with most things, Zotero is not perfect. Always check your citations for accuracy. Zotero will not correct data or capitalized titles for instance. Be sure to check the data for each citation. You can always edit the citations in Zotero.