I often find myself using multiple collections at once as I build a presentation outline or think through a complex idea. I paste information between things, add items to a program outline, or post questions to myself that need future attention. Without a shortcut, this is a lot of scrolling to the same several folders. Here is how I make this efficient:

1. Make sure you've got the Zutilo Add-on installed in Zotero, and that you have set the "Copy select collection link" option to show on the Zotero context menu in the Zutilo User Interface in your Zutilo Preferences. (If you have not used Zutilo before, it's worth your time to install it and set it up. I wish I'd discovered it before I wrote my Zotero books.)
2. Create a brief standalone note with Zutilo links to each of the collections you're jumping between. (Where you place it depends on whether you're going to keep using it as is, modify it for future projects, or delete it when tonight's research is done. I'm working on a presentation, so I'm storing it in the presentation prep folder until I've done all of my research. The research, which will be used for multiple projects, lives in another place in my Zotero library. And my SLIP-BOX collection is where I think through complex questions. All of these are important for getting my presentation ready.)
3. I double-click on the note in the Research List (center pane), which opens the note in a separate window--which I position to the side of my monitor, taking up as little space as possible. I size the main Zotero window to allow it to show. (See attached png file.)
4. In your note, create a little menu of the collections you're jumping between. Do this by right-clicking on the collection folder and choosing "Copy select collection link." Then paste the link into the little note.

Once you've taken a few minutes to do this, you can jump from place to place in an instant. If there are specific notes or references you want to jump to, use the "Copy select item link" option to add them to your jump menu.

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