Zotero: Zo Zimple

In our digital history class two weeks back we were told about some free programs available on the Internet to help with citations and bibliographies, something which is important when you're writing any essay, but even more so when you're working on a thesis, because there's so much information you need to put in, and it's easy to miss a reference when you're rushing through seventy or eighty pages in late September before bringing it to the binders. One of the programs was Zotero ("zoh-TAIR-oh", according to the program's start guide), which allows you to extract information from library and bookstore websites by going through catalogues and collecting information on the book or article you want to use, as well as storing the information for later reference. A slight problem is that it's an extension for the Firefox web browser, meaning you need to download  Firefox in order to use Zotero if you normally use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.

I was amazed when learning about this program, the various things which the program can do left me rather stunned, in much the same way I was when I first encountered iTunes (even if you don't like iTunes, it's still pretty cool to be able to access millions of songs on the Internet, and have all your own music in one place too). Sadly my amazement slowly receded as it dawned on me that this program existed during the summer, while I was writing another thesis. The thought of those hours I spent citing and referencing the old-fashioned way while there was a faster way of doing it via a free downloadable program nearly brought tears to my eyes, and I was rather well organised! I can only imagine the length of time it takes when one does their referencing at the end, after writing the rest of the thesis.

The program looks simple enough, with an easily navigational interface which lets you organise files efficiently and without difficulty. But the most impressive feature is its ability to save an article or a catalogue entry which would normally require me to either manually save a PDF (if it's an article) to my computer, which would invariably get lost among the plethora of documents, music, video games and web pages currently clogging my laptop. The delight of being able to save a file with two clicks, knowing that I can access it at a later date anywhere in the world on any computer, has re-emphasised the reason why I love modern technology (especially if it's free!). This next thesis has already been made that little bit easier to deal with.

And yes, the tabloid-sounding title I gave this post was my idea, and I'll be expecting a royalty cheque if Zotero ever use that as a slogan.