There are numerous ways to organize your archival sources in Zotero. You will need to find the strategy that best matches your research methodology.
"Remember, how you organize your data will have a profound effect on your thinking."
(Galarza, Alex. “Zotero in the Archives.” GradHacker. Accessed December 17, 2013. http://www.gradhacker.org/2011/08/03/zotero-in-the-archives/.)
Instead of filing items into Zotero collections, leave all items in the default "My Library" collection (you can sort by date, title, etc.).
Assign tags to items to filter them according to research theme.
Using Zotero Collections, organize your research by topic and archival collection consulted.
Collection
Subject of Research
e.g. Advertising
Sub-collection
Each archival collection consulted
e.g. Jean Wade Rindlaub papers
Sub-sub-collection
Folders consulted
e.g. Folder 7.9. Market research
Item
Items of note within folders
e.g. Notes regarding Betty Crocker
A best practice of Archival Research is to keep a research log.
A research log may be kept on paper, in a word processing program, or as a spreadsheet. A sample research log is as follows.
Organizing your archival research in Zotero allows you to transform your research log into a personalized research database.
The fields that a research log includes are built into the item information that Zotero contains. Add comments and other information in Zotero notes.
Best practices for using Zotero Item Types for archival materials.
Note: Zotero will release updates in a future version that will include new fields that are specific to archival research.
To cite an archival collection as a whole (e.g. Julia Child papers, 1925-1993), use the Item Type Manuscript as shown below.
To cite items within an archival collection (e.g. letter, Julia Child to Paul Child, 1945), it is best to use the Item Type that most closely resembles the material being cited.
Note: If there is not an acceptable match in the Item Type list, do not use Document (the citation output for Document does not include all of the fields necessary to cite archival material). Revert to Manuscript.
Each item in your Zotero library has Fields. These fields provide information about the item that Zotero uses to create citations.
This cheat-sheet shows how to use fields so that Zotero creates accurate citation information for archival materials.
Title
Document or material title
Author
Author of document or material
Abstract
Can use for brief notes if desired
Date
Date of document or material
Language
Language of document or material
URL
Finding aid / Catalog record URL
Accessed
No suggested use
Archive
Full name of archival repository
Loc. in Archive
Important: Give call number, folder / box number in this field
Library Catalog
No suggested use
Call Number
Can input call number, but be sure to also put call number in “Loc. in Archive”
Rights
Copyright notes, Access or Use Restrictions, Permission to Publish information
Extra
Annotations; Zotero can create an annotated Chicago Style bibliography
Best Practice: Start managing your images before you link them to Zotero.
Decide on a file-naming convention and stick to it. This practice will allow you to use your images even outside of a structure like Zotero.
[LastNameorOrgName]_[CallNo]_[FolderNo]_[ImageNo]
Example 1:
Julia Child Papers
Child_MC660_1.1_001
Example 2:
NOW Records
NOW_MC666_2.1_001
Never forget what collection your image came from!
Capture the folder title in your image or write the folder title on a slip of paper and capture it in your image.
You can also start each set of images by photographing the outside of the box.
Store your images on your hard drive and link them to your Zotero library.
Right click on the item to which you want to link your research images (OSX ctrl+click). Select Add Attachment then Attach Link to File.
Note: You cannot link to a folder, but you can select multiiple image files to link to your item.
Store your images in cloud storage like Dropbox, Google Drive, Flickr, or Picassa and link them to your Zotero library.
Ensure your cloud storage is set to private. Photographs taken of archival collections are for personal research use only.
The following example shows how to use Dropbox and Zotero. You would follow a similar method for using other cloud storage services.
In Dropbox, create folders that match the Zotero collections and / or items that you have photographed
Copy the URL for the dropbox folder that contains your research images.
Add the URL to the "URL" field in the corresponding Zotero item.
This guide was adapted from Use Zotero for Archival Research by Jennifer Fauxsmith.