Zotero works best when storing citations for a "citable" unit--that is, a book, an article, a video, conference proceeding, or other publication type. It makes citing these resources in your writing seem like magic!

But when you are working with an archival collection, you will find Zotero less magical and more manual. 

First, archival materials are described in a structured format --and the collection finding aid can also be referenced as a resource. 

• an entire collection
  • a box within a collection
    • a folder within a box
      • a specific document within a folder

Ideally, you should be able to provide your reader with the exact location in the archive of the material being referenced.

While Zotero can create a record from an archival catalog web page, such as Special Collections' ArchivesSpace, the record may not reflect the specific document you wish to reference.

While this page provides some options for storing and using manuscript references in your Zotero library, please be aware that automated citation generation may not work as with other formats.  Zotero can help you store, organize and annotate your references, but you may need to edit footnotes and bibliographies manually. 

Be sure to consult our Special Collections Citation Guide for detailed guidance on referencing our collections.

You may also wish to consult the following guides from other universities on using Zotero with archival materials:

In Zotero, create a collection template record that you can copy for each new document:  You can use the Manuscript, Letter, Photograph, or other document type.

1. Add a new item by clicking the create item icon. 
2. Choose Manuscript or Letter or other format.  (You can change the record type as you copy from the template)
3. Give your template record a memorable title such as Template - Ellen Gilchrist Materials.
4. For URL, you can copy the ArchvesSpace link for the collection description.
5. For Archive, use Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville
6. For Loc. in Archive, paste the full name of the collection] followed by a period, for example Ellen Gilchrist Materials MC 1833.
7. For Call Number, add the collection accession number, for example MC 1833. 
   Other fields are optional for the template. 

Thereafter, as you conduct research, right-click your template record and choose Duplicate Item.

You can then

1. Edit the Item type if needed. For example, change the item type from Manuscript to Letter.
2. Edit the title to reflect the document being consulted, for example, Ellen Gilchrist to Rhoda Manning 2 September 1945.
3. Add a Date.
4. Add the series, box, and folder information to the Loc, in Archive field, for example.  Ellen Gilchrist Materials (MC 1833), Box 1 Folder 1.

You are ready to add your notes, transcription, a document scan, or other information to the specific record for that letter and will have all the information you need to reference it in your writing. 

In addition or in place of a template record, you can create a set of collections and and subcollections (folders) in your Zotero library that reflect the organization of an archival collections.  While this doesn't aid in automatically generating citations as you write, it does help you keep  track of where an item is located.  For example

• Collection: Joseph Taylor Robinson Papers
  • Subcollection: Series 9
    • Subcollection: Subseries 2
      • Subcollection: Box 215
        • Subcollection: Folder 4

Your notes and citations would go into the Zotero subcollection for Folder. 

Tropy is an open source application from the same development team that brought you Zotero.

Tropy is built specifically for archival research and allows you to collect and organize the scans you have made from manuscript collections.  Tropy is not a citation manager and does not integrate with word processing software.

While there is ongoing work to integrate Tropy and Zotero to allow export from one system to the other, it is still very much a work in progress.