Adding Library Folder in Zotero

With Zotero you can add a library folder so you can organize you reference into its catagory. How do you organize that it is totally you who decide. For example, you can make folder based on the subject or your reference and put all related references in that subject folder. People may also create folders based on the type of the reference such as books, journal articles, reviews, conference proceedings, etc. You can choose how to do this the most convenient way you think.

1. To add a library folder, first you need to go to Zotero website.
2. Click My Library button
3. Click Create Collection as indicated in the image below
4. Name your Collection and its Parent Collection and then Click Create

Adding Reference to Library

To add a reference to a folder or collection in your library:

1. Select the box next to the reference you wan to add to a particular library folder. Or, expand individual reference you want add to see the reference details.
2. Click Add to a Collection as indicated in the image below. Remember that yiu have to select the box or expand individual reference to activate the Add to a Collection button

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How to Install Zotero Firefox Extension

Before you can use Zotero facility to collect and organize your reference database or library, first you need to get Zotero Firefox extension and install it. Installation process is quick. Here is how to get Zotero Firefox extension and install it:

1. Go to download Zotero Firefox extension
2. Click Download red button. If the web browser gives you a warning yellow band, click Allow
3. Wait for the downloading process to complete
4. Once downloading has completed, restart your Firefox to allow the extension to take effect. You should see Zotero button on the lower right of your screen. Click that button if you want see the Zotero window.

There is also a video on how to install the Zotero Firefox extension

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Importing bibliographic information from the web into Zotero library

One of the very important feature of Zotero you may would like to know is importing reference information automatically from the internet into Zotero library. In the internet, you can find bibliography or references that are related to your field of expertise. Let say Google Scholar. Do you know that you can actually import those references into your library in Zotero? This will save you a lot of time because you don't have to type any single reference.

Here is an example how to do that.

1. Go to Google Scholar
2. Type in your keyword you would like to find
3. After you click Search, your search results will appear along with a folder icon on the browser bar (in Firefox)

4. Clicking on folder will produce a list of items with check boxes next to them; choose the ones you want to save and Zotero will do the rest.

 

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Have you been using Zotero?

Zotero is an online reference or bibliographic manager with great facilities for scientists and the like. If you a student, teacher, researcher or anyone who often produces documents with references and bibliography, then Zotero is the right facility for you. Zotero is fully integrated with Firefox web browser and there is a plugin for Microsoft Word application

Zotero is a free service and dedicated to support people in need of easy reference management system. You can go to Zotero and register yourself to use the facility.

Zotero

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How to quickly type a chemical formula in Word 2007 or 2010

If you are working in science fields, especially as a chemist or biologist, then you are likely to have documents that are created with many chemical formula in it. How do you type a chemical formula such as H2SO4 which the chemical formula of sulphuric acid? Beginner Word users will type that normally and do formatting for number 2 and 4 using subscript button so that the formula is typed correctly. But, this is not quite practical when you have to type them such chemical formulas many times. You may copy and paste the one you have typed, but that is not recommended, either.

There is a practical and quick way to do this task. With this, you do not have to manually format each chemical formula you type because it will be done automatically and correctly. Here, people use autocorrect function. Follow below steps how to do it:

1. Type the first chemical formula (such as H2SO4) and format it manually as should be.
2. Highlight that formatted chemical formula and click Office button (on the most upper left corner on your Word window) to select Word Option in Word 2007 (in Word 2010, this is under File)

3. Click Proofing and the Autocorrect button to display its window
4. In that window, type H2SO4 in the box under Replace and tick Formatted text.

5. Click Add.
6. Click Ok

Now the formatted H2SO4 is saved in autocorrect function. Now type another H2SO4 and press spacebar.

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How to create your thesis with Word 2007 and 2010: Step 9 - How to Create an Automatic Table of Content

Creating an automatic table of contents for a structured document like thesis in Word 2007 or 2010 is the most fun to do. It is even more enjoyable if you have numbered your chapter and sub chapter headings with multilevel list numbering. I recommend you to see previous articles on how to do this.

In the previous articles, we have created a document called Academic Document 4 which has applied Heading styles to chapters and sub chapters and we have also numbered them appropriately. We have also separated each chapter with a section break.

Follow below steps on how to create a table of contents for your thesis or other similar documents

1. Open your Academic Document 4
2. Create an empty space before Chapter 1 or anywhere you want to place your Table of Contents, but make sure the empty space has a 'Normal' style
3. Under Reference menu, click Table of Contents and then Insert Table of Contents (see image below)
 
4. In the appearing box, clear box next to 'Use hyperlinks instead of page numbers'

5. Click OK
6. Save Academic Document 4 into Academic Document 5

Your Table of Contents will look like below:

 

And you can see in the Style Panel that styles for Table of Content levels are also created automatically. They are called TOC 1, TOC 2, TOC 3, etc.

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How to create your thesis with Word 2007 and 2010: Step 3 - Understanding the Use of Heading and Other Styles in Word 2007 or 2010

As mentioned in other post that when you are creating your thesis or other documents with Word 2007 or 2010, it is highly recommended to expand your style panel to see all styles available in that document. You may also want to expand the style panel when you are reading a Word 2007 or 2010 document created by other people to see whether they have applied styling system to that document or not. A document created with a good styling will have a very consistent look throughout that document and in the style panel you can see all the styles being applied to the document.

When you type any text in a paragraph on your document, by default that paragraph text will use the style 'Normal' as you can see on Style panel. Whatever the style and formatting being associated with style 'Normal', that will appear in the text.

In regard to thesis creation, it is generally recommended to use style Heading 1 for your Chapter headings, style Heading 2 for Sub-chapter headings, style Heading 3 for Sub sub-chapter headings, etc. This is very important to remember because Word 2007 and 2010 by default will use Heading style to be included in Table of Contents. By applying Heading styles appropriately, you will produce a very nice and consistent document.

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Activating Style Panel

Activating Style panel is a good practice and recommended by many Word 2007 and 2010 professionals as it is very helpful during your Word 2010 creation. In Style panel, you can see all the styles available in the existing opened document. Default styles brought by Word or styles you have created yourself will all be displayed. So, when you want apply a particular style, you just need to place your mouse cursor on the text to which you want apply the style and click the style name in your Style panel. And when you place your mouse cursor on any text in your document, the style the text is using will be surrounded by a blue-colored box on the style panel.

To activate (expand) or inactivate the Style panel:

1. Click the small arrow on the right bottom of the Style box as shown on the image (under Home menu)
2. Once expanded, drag that Style panel to the most right of your screen so it will fit into its position on the right of your document window.
3. Select or unselect the box next to Show Preview on the lower left corner of the Style Panel and see the difference
4. Click the arrow once more to inactivate the Style panel or the cross sign (x) on that panel.

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How to create your thesis with Word 2007 and 2010: Step 2 - Thesis Structure

Undergraduate and graduate thesis or dissertation is a type of academic document with certain structure. From front section to the end, you will find in a thesis or dissertation front pages which consist of at least Thesis Title, Acknowledgment, Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, and List of Appendices. Then there is a thesis body which consist of chapters, including Introduction, Literature Reviews, Methodology, Results and Discussion, and Conclusion. After that, a thesis ends with closing pages which include List of References and Appendices. These are generally found in a thesis or dissertation. You may find variations from one institution to another, but the basic principle is the same.

When we look at a thesis Table of Contents, it will look like the following

Acknowledgment
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Appendices
Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1
1.2
1.3
Chapter 2. Literature Reviews
2.1
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.3
2.4
Chapter 3. Methodology
Chapter 4. Results and Discussion
Chapter 5. Conclusion
List of References
Appendices

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How to create your thesis with Word 2007 and 2010: Step 1 - Introduction

I have decided to make a series of articles that will ease people on how to create a graduate thesis with Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010. This is intended primarily to undegraduate or graduate students who are currently writing their thesis or are preparing to do that. Hopely, these articles will provide help them, so that thesis creation becomes more enjoyable and less painful.

But, as you go along with these articles on how to use Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010 to create a thesis, you should see that the principles also apply to other documents having the same structure with a graduate thesis. Including here are research proposals, research reports, even books. Thus, the articles are actually useful for anyone who in their daily activities are dealing with creation of such documents.

The articles are divided into several steps to make it clear to everyone (especially beginners in this topic) to follow all the steps. It is advised to follow all the steps from the beginning so that you can really learn and feel yourselves anything that we are talking about. With these articles laid down in consecutive steps, you can always go backward and forward anytime you like to the individual article you want read.

Please be informed that practices based on these steps are required to get a better skill in using Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. So, please do practice! If you are stuck, you are please to post question anytime.

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Using Document Map in Microsoft Word 2007

Document Map is a very convenient document navigation tools provided by Microsoft Office Word including in Word 2007. With Document Map, you can go and find anything in your document quickly and easily and save you lots of time. With this tools, you do not need to do much scrolling to go to a particular part of your document. But, to see full feature of Document Map you need to use Heading styles to your document. You can see other post on how to use Heading styles in Microsoft Word 2007. For example, you see how to Create Chapter Heading, Modify Heading 1, Modify Heading 2 and 3, and Numbering your Heading Chapters.

To activate Document Map, go to View and tick Document Map box.

Below is an image how Document Map looks like in Academic Document 3.

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