SJE DSA February Zotero Workshops Recap
In February, the Social Justice Education Departmental Student Association (SJE DSA) was excited to host two Lunch & Learn sessions: Zotero Workshop I and Zotero Workshop II, led by Jeff Newman, New College Librarian at the D.G. Ivey Library. The D.G. Ivey Library supports programs in African Studies, Caribbean Studies, Disability Studies, Equity Studies, and Women and Gender Studies.
Jeff has supported students and faculty at New College for over 15 years, and his depth of knowledge made both sessions practical, accessible, and immediately useful. There were many “ah-ha!” moments as he screen-shared his own Zotero library to demonstrate strategies and work through our questions on the spot.
Zotero is a free, open-source reference management tool designed to help researchers collect, organize, cite, and share research materials. Zotero allows users to save bibliographic information and full-text PDFs directly from websites, databases, and library catalogues—making it easier to keep track of sources throughout thesis and dissertation work.
Read on for a recap of both events.
Workshop I (Feb 12)
The first session introduced students (both in person and online) to Zotero. Jeff walked students through:
- Creating and setting up a Zotero account
- Building and organizing a Zotero library
- Managing PDFs and attachments
- Annotating PDFs within Zotero
- Colour-coding annotation systems
- Using the Zotero plug-in to insert citations and generate bibliographies in Microsoft Word
For many students, the session demystified reference management and offered great tips to streamline their research workflow.
Workshop II (Feb 26)
Building on Part I, Workshop II took a deeper dive into Zotero’s features, focusing on optimizing and maintaining a clean, efficient library. We talked about:
- Syncing Zotero across devices
- Identifying and removing duplicate entries
- Installing and using plug-ins to extend Zotero’s functionality
- Strategies to reduce storage use
The second session helped students move from basic use to confident customization—tailoring Zotero to support long-term research projects.
Access further support with Zotero
For those who were unable to attend—or for anyone who would like additional one-on-one support—Jeff is happy to meet individually with students to help set up Zotero, troubleshoot issues, or answer specific questions. Students can reach him at jeff.newman@utoronto.ca.
The University of Toronto Libraries also offer helpful online resources, including a Research Guide: Zotero – What is Zotero? and a detailed comparison of Zotero and other citation management software. Additionally, on March 20, 2026, the OISE Library will host an Introduction to Zotero session.
A big thank you to the SJE DSA and Jeff for supporting SJE student researchers in building intuitive citation and reference management practices.
