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Work flow
I am curious about how others of you incorporate Zotero into your research work flow. I realize that everyone works differently, but as I've yet to settle on a thing that I feel actually works for me, I thought I'd crowdsource ideas.
For example, you have a focused question and a plan for your research. Starting with your online resources, you open Zotero, open the resource webpage...then what? Where do you put your findings, your evidence analysis, etc? In a word doc, OneNote, in a field in Zotero? If you use a word doc - how do you tie that info to your source in Zotero - do you immediately place the footnote even though you may need to tweak the format later? (By the way, this would make a great series of videos!)
Thanks
Donna W
Prior to Zotero, I used Excell to create to-do lists. I would print them out and make notes on the papers. Not very effective. I never got the hang of research logs. I had tried one note but didn't really like it. I use Family Tree Maker as my database but it doesn't contain everything and like all genealogy programs it has it's limitations. Several years ago at a conference, I learned about Scrivener. It is my goto for all my writing and analysis.
The downside to Scrivener and FTM was being able to find specific items in my library and collections that pertained to what I was working on in Scrivener. Scrivener is great for storing all the parts that pertain to a research question or project. It is not good at finding those items on my computer or in my physical library.
Zotero for me is becoming my personal card catologue on steroids. I can make quick notes about a resource in Zotero, including a preliminary analysis using the note feature as I enter an item. If I have a Scrivener set up for a project or question I can also add the item to the Scrivener in the research section. If I haven't started a Scrivener for a question I see Zotero as a place to keep all those notes until I am ready to start a Scrivener.
I did add the folders into Zotero that Donna suggested for a Research To Do List and have already added several items to the Get From Repository folder. These were things I found as I was entering scans of documents into Zotero.
I am not really using the citation creation ability of Zotero except for books. At least at this point. As I add documents and other items most of the citations were already done and added to FTM. I have FTM open and am using copy and paste to add them into a note in Zotero.
Ann
Welcome to the forum, Donna. I do plan videos as soon as possible. I agree they would be helpful. I confess I'd never thought in terms of workflow, and it's helpful to ponder. Research happens at a variety of levels for me. There's early fact-finding, where I am grabbing large things that might be useful. The low-hanging fruit, the historical context, maps. Because I can file a single thing in multiple places, I catalog each source as I tackle it. I keep a note attached that says what I searched in that source, so I'll know if I need to come back for a new surname or locality, as the family tree expands.
Now if I have a specific research question, I put the question in a to-do folder, but also drag it into the surname or individual or place the question addresses. So, from the beginning, no matter if I get pulled away from the work for a month or six or a year, I'll have that question waiting for me there. I have created a research plan template that works for me. It's a Microsoft Word template. I create one for a research question, then I attach it to the question to-do in Zotero and in any appropriate surname file. Some research plans take years to finish, so it's always findable. And I leave it in Zotero always, as the audit trail of how I came to the final answer, should it be challenged. I usually only create research plans for questions that can't be easily proven with readily accessible sources. The first screenshot below shows Zotero in the background. In the folder for my ancestor James C. Burson, I have subfolder holding research plans related to him. There are two. The second one--about finding his middle name--is expanded and you can see that I attached a file to it called "James C Burson_Middle Name_Research Plan." I double-clicked on it, and it opened the Word document in the front. I can make changes to it there, and save it. So it behaves like a part of Zotero, though it's linked to an external Word document.
I guess, in terms of workflow, my To-Do folder becomes my constant reminder of what I left undone--where I was. In the second screenshot, you see my folder of things I have already retrieved, but not yet reflected in my family tree. So the main to-do folder is "Log in Tree," with a subfolder called "Folder in Progress." In it are items I started but have not yet finished logging into the tree. In the actual research item, I put a note called "_Start back at pg. 354." So if it is six months before I get back to this item, I know exactly where to start.
This same research item—the Mayberry records in the Bibb County, Alabama, Administrators Record Books G—has been dragged into the Mayberry surname folder, so it's already properly filed, even though there is still work to do on it. That was one of my biggest problems with paper research....the fact that piles of research were in a to-do stack, and I wouldn't even remember I had them, if I looked at a Surname folder. I love that I can now file them and still have them in the to-do stack.
When I do finally update FTM/Ancestry, I create the fact-level citation, based on what I have in Zotero.
I guess it's the beginning of a workflow, though I tend to be a nonlinear thinker, so I bounce in my work. Not ideal, but the way my brain is wired (hence the need for Zotero).
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Thanks, Donna! I am now doing a happy dance. Tried an experiment to see if I could attach a Scrivener in Zotero. It worked. Another game changer!
I'm happy to hear it, Ann. That's one file type I never tried in Zotero, but I'm thrilled it handles it!
Thanks Donna and Ann - sorry for my delayed response. I posted the query, then promptly packed and relocated to DC for the week.
Ann - I've used Scrivener haphazardly for a few years now, and am excited to put the two into practice together.
Donna - I am also not a linear thinker when it comes to researching but when I am trying to wrap up my thoughts/arguments I get so flustered at not finding the things I KNOW I figured out. Can't wait to get back and put a few new tricks into practice with all this great stuff I'm gathering this week!
(and I realized I need to "subscribe" to a topic to get emails about replies, even to questions I posted?)
Hm. Not sure about that. It automatically subscribes me to all of them. If you didn't get notified, I guess you do.
Quote from Ann Gilchrest on February 11, 2019, 1:19 amThanks, Donna! I am now doing a happy dance. Tried an experiment to see if I could attach a Scrivener in Zotero. It worked. Another game changer!
Ann,
How did you do this?
Hi Donna, in Zotero I used Donna B.'s to do list idea. I made folders called Stories to Tell and Questions. Then added a document with a title basically describing the story or the question. For example, Who are Benjamin Vero's Parents? Then I right click on the name Add Attachment > Attach Link to File > Navigate to the Scrivener file that ends with .scrivx and attach the file. Once the Scrivener is attached I can double click on the title in Zotero and the Scrivener opens up.
As an aside. All of my Scriveners are stored in my main Genealogy folder then in a folder called Case Studies. Each Scivener is stored in its own folder with a name relating to the question or story. Currently, there are 107 Scriveners for various questions and stories. It occurred to me that if I add an item to Zotero about a particular question or story I was working on and I was on my main computer I could add it to my Scrivener at the same time. If I was in a library I would add the item into Zotero. Use the related tab to add it to that question/story and I would not forget that those notes had to do with a Scrivener already started.
Hope this makes sense.
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Makes perfect sense, thanks!
I wondered how you attached the "file" but I was imagining the way I'm using Scrivener where one "Scrivener" is one family/topic and there are files within for each person. Your method makes sense now that I understand your multiple "scriveners." Thanks for the explanation. I am still learning how I can use these tools to my benefit and am getting just a tad paralyzed by all of the options. Still - something has to be better than half my notes being in word docs, parts being in One Note, still more in Scrivener - and NONE of those properly cited beyond links to online references with pdf screen shots.
