Make 2025 the year you take your family history research to the next level. Discover how Zotero, the ultimate knowledge management tool for research, can help genealogists and historians merge family history and historical context into compelling genohistory. This New Year’s plan could transform your approach to research, storytelling, and legacy-building.
New Year, New You—And a New Way to Do Family History
For genealogists and historians, the start of a new year often brings resolutions to uncover long-lost ancestors, document family stories, or finally organize that overflowing stack of research. But what if you could do all that and more, using a tool that not only organizes your work but empowers you to weave a richer tapestry of history and genealogy?
You can with Zotero. This free, user-friendly knowledge management tool is changing the game for family historians and history scholars alike.
What Is Zotero, and Why Does It Matter?
Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is an open-source program designed to help researchers collect, organize, analyze, cite, and share information. Originally created by historians for academic research, it’s equally valuable for genealogists seeking to transform raw data and scattered information fragments into meaningful stories and historians looking to synthesize complex research.
Zotero empowers you to:
- Replace stacks of paper, notecards, or computer files with an easily searchable digital library.
- Automatically generate citations in professional formats like the Chicago Manual of Style.
- Use Zotero’s standard tools to create innovative tools like smart to-do lists and timelines integrated with your research.
- Organize your findings by family line, historical periods, or research goals using customizable collections and tags.
- Collaborate with others by sharing digital libraries and syncing research across devices.
Imagine a single tool that keeps your genealogical discoveries, historical context, and writing projects organized and accessible anywhere. That’s Zotero.
Genealogy Meets History: Moving Toward Genohistory
Genealogy uncovers information about your ancestors. History reveals the world they lived in. Genohistory bridges the gap, creating hybrid narratives that place individual lives within their broader cultural, social, and historical contexts. Zotero is the ideal tool for this kind of work.
As a genealogist, you might collect census records, photographs, and personal letters. As a historian, you may seek historical context from books, scholarly articles, or maps. Zotero allows you to bring these sources together, organize them thematically, and annotate them with insights that connect genealogy and history.
This year, resolve to tell your ancestors’ stories not just as names and dates but as vivid, contextualized narratives that future generations will cherish.
How Zotero Can Revolutionize Your Research in 2025
- Go Digital
Say goodbye to file cabinets and binders. Zotero stores your documents, PDFs, notes, and images in one place, searchable by tags, keywords, or any metadata you choose. - Make Citations Effortless
Save hours of time with Zotero’s automatic citation features. Whether you’re writing an article, crafting a family history book, or annotating records for your personal collection, Zotero handles the formatting for you. - Simplify Collaboration
Share your research with family members, genealogy groups, or fellow historians. Zotero’s group libraries make it easy to collaborate without duplication or confusion. - Plan Smarter
Use Zotero’s organizational tools to create research logs, track to-do lists, and ensure you never lose a lead or repeat work. - Merge Past and Present
Combine genealogy and history into a rich hybrid understanding of those who came before us. With Zotero, you can store everything from academic articles on 19th-century migration to digital copies of family letters in one integrated system.
A Guide to Get Started
Ready to give Zotero a try? The process is easier than you might think. My book, A Quick Guide to Zotero 7, walks you through the setup and teaches you how to customize Zotero for your specific research needs. With simple, step-by-step instructions, this guide is perfect for genealogists and historians who want to hit the ground running.
(Just so you know, I’ve never received a cent from Zotero for promoting their product. Proceeds from my books about Zotero help fund this business and website, but my primary goal is for you to discover and benefit from this incredible tool—whether or not you use my guides.)
Make This Year Count
Whether you’re uncovering your ancestors’ lives or contextualizing their stories within historical places and times, Zotero is the ultimate companion for turning your New Year’s research resolutions into reality.
Let 2025 be the year you go beyond genealogy and into genohistory. Organize your research, streamline your process, and most importantly, tell stories that will resonate for generations.
