To add items to your Zotero Library (or any of your Zotero Collections), you want to use the Zotero Connector.
The Zotero Connector is a plugin tool for your web browser. It links to your Zotero app to save articles, websites, PDFs, books, videos (almost anything!).
So saving resources and references is extremely easy: You need to view the item in your web browser, click the Zotero connector, and it's automatically saved to your Zotero library. It works with academic Library databases and with, web search tools, and regular websites.
You can use the Zotero Connector to save individual items, articles, or groups of results. If you are looking at a list of results (from a database search, for example), you can click the Zotero Connector to receive a window where you can select the items you want to save.
Make sure you've downloaded the Zotero Connector by visiting the Zotero downloads web page:
If you cannot save an item with the Zotero Connector, you may need to add it to your library manually.
There are a few ways to do this, depending on the item to be saved and the situation. You can:
You can get detailed instructions on how to add items using each of these methods at the link below.
When adding a PDF directly to Zotero, it attempts to automatically find the information about the item and add it to the reference. If it is unable to find the needed information, you may end up with a blank reference in your Zotero library.
If this happens, you must supply additional information about the item manually. This additional information is known as Metadata. Watch this short Evans Library video for instructions on how to add the needed Metadata to Zotero.
Solving problems with Zotero's proxy settings and EBSCO or OneSearch
The Zotero Connector’s proxy settings have the potential to cause connection issues when using OneSearch @ Evans Library. Instead of getting search results, you might get sent to Ebsco’s “Select Resources" page or an error page. One solution is to click the "Don't proxy this site" option that appears in the yellow notification pushed by the Zotero Connector. But if you find yourself doing that multiple times, or continue to have issues accessing OneSearch, you may need to take further action.
You will need to access the Zotero Connector proxy settings to fix this problem. You can find the proxy settings that are stored in the Zotero Connector by right clicking its icon in your browser and selecting either preferences or options (this will depend on the browser). From there, you will select "Proxies".
There are two options to solve this issue:
Option 1: Just simply turn it off. You can do this by un-checking the Enable proxy redirection checkbox. The ramifications of doing this will be that you need to link to some resources from the Library website each time.
Option 2 (A bit more complex option): Keep the proxy enabled, select the configured proxy, and then remove the EDS/EBSCO proxy by using the minus sign. After removing, visit the site again and let Zotero automatically detect the proxy settings. This should eliminate the repeated yellow notifications and potential connection issues. The benefit to this solution is that you won’t always have to link to some resources from the Library website each time.