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use_cases [2012/02/27 12:12] – [Theses and Dissertations] rmzelleuse_cases [2012/04/11 11:49] – [Theses and Dissertations] rmzelle
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 A thesis paper is like a research paper, only much more so. For that reason, it should be apparent that the features explained in the previous section should be that much more important. Backup and the word processor plugins are both absolutely essential. Certainly, people have written theses and dissertations without Zotero, and continue to do so, but any systems used to duplicate its coordinative features consume a great deal of time and effort. Zotero streamlines the whole process and lets you devote more time to research and writing. A thesis paper is like a research paper, only much more so. For that reason, it should be apparent that the features explained in the previous section should be that much more important. Backup and the word processor plugins are both absolutely essential. Certainly, people have written theses and dissertations without Zotero, and continue to do so, but any systems used to duplicate its coordinative features consume a great deal of time and effort. Zotero streamlines the whole process and lets you devote more time to research and writing.
  
-Zotero's advantages do not solely relate to coordination and logistics, however. When all your research materials reside in your Zotero library, you can uncover new information through the [[collections_and_tags#tags|tags]] and [[finding_and_sorting|search]] features. When importing items from certain sites, say, books from the Library of Congress, or photographs from Flickr, Zotero can automatically attach relevant tags supplied by the site. You can also add tags yourself, if you have a particular tag scheme you wish to implement, or there is some data you can use to link related items. +Zotero's advantages do not solely relate to coordination and logistics, however. When all your research materials reside in your Zotero library, you can uncover new information through the [[collections_and_tags#tags|tags]] and [[searching|search]] features. When importing items from certain sites, say, books from the Library of Congress, or photographs from Flickr, Zotero can automatically attach relevant tags supplied by the site. You can also add tags yourself, if you have a particular tag scheme you wish to implement, or there is some data you can use to link related items. 
  
 While tags add depth and complexity to the data at your disposal, even without them, the advanced search feature can help you glean new information from your library. Let's say you're studying literary criticism of Shakespeare's Hamlet throughout the 20th century. You could pull down all the articles so labeled from Lexis-Nexis within your timeframe, complete with abstracts. That should produce a fairly comprehensive collection. That's an awful lot of information to sift through, though. By conducting and saving searches for each decade, you can easily notice any gaps in your collection. This could mean either that your data for, say, the 1920s is not as complete as you would like or that literary criticism of Hamlet actually dropped off during that decade. It would be a simple matter to check these theories against other sources, and is useful information, either way. If you save your searches, it's a simple matter to monitor different elements of your library as it changes and grows, bringing important trends to the fore. While tags add depth and complexity to the data at your disposal, even without them, the advanced search feature can help you glean new information from your library. Let's say you're studying literary criticism of Shakespeare's Hamlet throughout the 20th century. You could pull down all the articles so labeled from Lexis-Nexis within your timeframe, complete with abstracts. That should produce a fairly comprehensive collection. That's an awful lot of information to sift through, though. By conducting and saving searches for each decade, you can easily notice any gaps in your collection. This could mean either that your data for, say, the 1920s is not as complete as you would like or that literary criticism of Hamlet actually dropped off during that decade. It would be a simple matter to check these theories against other sources, and is useful information, either way. If you save your searches, it's a simple matter to monitor different elements of your library as it changes and grows, bringing important trends to the fore.