In Zotero, you can add references for each of your assignments or research projects. Everything is collected into one folder called My Library, but you can create specific "collections" for each project or class by clicking the 
icon. The boxes below explain various methods for adding references to your Zotero library: 1) exporting individual items from a database, 2) exporting multiple items, and 3) creating a reference manually.
One of Zotero's most convenient features is its ability to find bibliographic information on the web pages you visit. This includes our catalog and databases, but also Google Scholar and most webpages. Zotero can recognize what you're looking at, whether it's a book from the catalog, a legal case, a journal article, or a webpage.
You can add items to your library in a few different ways. If you're viewing the item in your browser, the Zotero icon will change as it recognizes the format (see examples below).
For a book, the icon will look like this:
When you click this book icon, Zotero will save all of the bibliographic information about that book to your library, in a newly created “Book” item.
For a journal article from one of our databases, the icon will look like this:
Whenever possible, Zotero will also attach the PDF file of the article to your library. Double-clicking the item in Zotero should bring up the PDF easily. Note: some databases (like JSTOR) may require that you accept terms and conditions before continuing to a PDF. In those cases, Zotero may fail to download the PDF at first, but if you accept the terms, you should have no trouble adding those files as well.
As you can see below, Zotero saves the citation, and adds the PDF file as an attachment underneath it: 
For a webpage, the icon will look like this:
If you save a webpage, Zotero will try to collect as much data about the website as it can, but you may need to review this information before creating a citation. Zotero will also attach a "Snapshot" of the website to your collection, so you can refer to how the website looked on the day you accessed it.
On some web pages that list information about multiple items (e.g. a list of catalog or database search results), Zotero will show a folder icon. Clicking this folder icon will open a window in which you can select the items that you want to save to your library:
Zotero will add your selections to your library, and then attempt to attach associated PDF files whenever possible.
To manually add an item to your Zotero library, click the “New Item” button at the top of the center column, and select the desired item type from the drop-down menu (the complete list of item types can be found under “More”). An empty item of the selected item type will now appear in the center column.
You can then manually enter the item's bibliographic information in the right column. Zotero supplies the appropriate fields for the item type you picked, so it's just a matter of filling out the information in each blue bubble. This is also an easy way to edit or correct information from an item you've added automatically.
