The UNM University Libraries has launched a comprehensive Zotero tutorial to support UNM students and faculty with their research. The tutorial, created by Associate Professor Todd Quinn, provides a comprehensive guide on how to use Zotero and integrate the platform into a research workflow.
Zotero is a free, open-source citation manager that helps researchers collect, organize, share and integrate literature, such as articles, books and reports, into their writing and research workflows.
The self-paced tutorial is open to anyone and covers the basics of downloading Zotero, adjusting settings, and exploring its many uses. Through text, images and tasks, students and faculty can quickly gain confidence in using the tool. Quinn, a member of the UL Graduate & Faculty Engagement team, explains that the goal is to “allow researchers to quickly learn the tool so they can spend more time on analysis and writing and less on citations.”
The tutorial can enhance the way librarians and course instructors collaborate. Instructors can assign the tutorial before a librarian-led instruction session so more advanced topics such as developing research strategies, search techniques, research methodology, discipline-specific resource selection, integrating Zotero into workflows and finding data can be covered. This “flipped” approach fosters deeper classroom instruction and supports one-on-one research consultations with a librarian.
The tutorial builds on the Zotero guide, which Quinn developed several years ago to support the UNM community.
Zotero was originally developed at George Mason University in 2006 with support from an IMLS grant and other funding. Today, the nonprofit Corporation for Digital Scholarship maintains and develops the tool.
The University Libraries’ Learning, Research, and Engagement (LRE) team has developed many other self-paced tutorials, which are located on the U.N. The LRE unit is dedicated to supporting the diverse needs of the UNM community through high-quality instruction and research assistance. The unit comprises two teams—the Undergraduate Engagement team and the Graduate & Faculty Engagement team—working collaboratively to address the unique needs of students, faculty and researchers across the university.
