Zotero

I found Zotero to be the most time-consuming Thing so far, and it's taken a fortnight before I can write about it! It was such a hassle! I was surprised I had to download Firefox just so I could look at some referencing software. Apparently the UL doesn't like Firefox? Or Zotero? Or Zotero has some feud with Internet Explorer? I usually use Explorer.

I don't need to manage references myself, for home or work, though as Libby says, I can use it to organise al the references featured in 23 Things. But when I found it so awkward to set up, I realised just what the students have to struggle with and why they probably go for a system like Endnote which the Computing Service actively supports.

All that said, Zotero is beautiful to look at and made me feel like a proper researcher and terribly professional. I can see that if you're writing a dissertation/thesis you need some substantial software to manage it, and once I'd got it set up Zotero didn't fail me. And to my surprise I've used it quite a bit. I often have to acquire a rather rapid knowledge of a topic in order to write a funding bid or do a presentation or exhibition, and while I've been working on the Tower Project I've looked for articles on hundreds of topics, from the books Kipling read as a child to the late Victorian view of the 19th century. Until now, as soon as the event was over, I dropped my notes into a folder and forgot the whole thing. But this time I kept all the references, including all the JSTOR articles, on Zotero, and there they are for future use. Brilliant!