Importing into Zotero

I have used BibTex successfully for some years now. In order to distinguish where resources in Zotero come from, I manually add tags to hard copy resources to show their actual location or source, e.g. _Shelf, _PDF, _Library, _Logos, and more.

In order to add the _Logos tag I copy the text of the exported BibTex file into Microsoft Word and perform the following Find/Replace (without wildcards)

Find                       }}^p
Replace                },^pkeywords={_Logos}}^p

I then replace the BibTex file with that modified text, and then import it into Zotero. That helps to locate the resource, or see whether it might be advantageous to get a Logos copy of something I already have in hard copy (_Shelf). 

I should note that although many resources have great metadata, some don't (journal articles need to be added manually, in my experience). If I'm using it for anything serious, I manually check the Zotero entry or the citation in Word for accuracy. 

Jordan Litchfield said:

I can't quite figure out though how you are copying the text of the exported BibTex file... When I try to open that file, it only wants to import it into Zotero.

Hi Jordan,

I open the BibTex file using Notepad, and copy the text. I then paste it into Microsoft Word where I do the Find/Replace. I then copy all the text in Word and paste it into the BibTex file in Notepad, and save and close the BibTex file. I then import the BibTex into Zotero. 

Michael S. said:

Wow, that is a lot of copying and pasting...

It depends on how many resources are exported. I export in batches occasionally, and add a mytag to all the resources that have been exported in a particular batch. Having added the mytag with a date of export to all the relevant resources in the Library, I make a temporary collection with just the resources with that mytag. That makes the file size manageable.

In any case, the operation is a single find/replace, for the whole document, not multiple actions. So it's quick and easy.

Jordan Litchfield said:

Great, that worked. Thanks!

That's great.

Once the resources are in Zotero, I tend to do a basic sort. I have a few folders in Zotero, for Journals, Printed books etc., Webpages, Illustrations, Audio/Visual media. I move the resources from the import folder into those folders (copying them to the other folder by selecting and dragging and dropping them in to the relevant folder, and then deleting them from the import folder), and deleting the import folder when all resources are moved/copied from it.That way, I can keep any webpages I capture separate from printed books, and so on. Zotero is a great resource, especially when using the Microsoft Word addin for making citations.