Zotero: Shared Libraries

Zotero's Groups feature allows you to share references with other Zotero users online. It's a great way to work on collaborative research projects.

First, set up Zotero sync and synchronize your library.

• To create a shared library, click the Create Groups button near the top left of your Zotero window (small blue/green button with two “people” icons, second from the left).
• To join an existing Zotero library, search for it at zotero.org/groups or be invited by the group’s owner.
• You must log in to the zotero.org website to create or join a group.

You now have two sections in your Zotero collections pane: My Library and Group Libraries.

Personal and group libraries are entirely separate, and changes made to items in one library do not affect the other. You can drag items back and forth libraries to copy items.

Search for existing public groups or create a new group. Groups may be public (searchable, and anyone can join) or private (users can only join if invited).

Below is a video about creating group libraries. These are libraries which can be useful for situations such as group projects or accessing links and information about your field of interest, among other things. There are three types of groups: Public Open, Public Closed, and Private groups. The video below explains the constraints of each of these options. You will need to set up a Zotero sync account to set up or join groups. You can view a video on how to do that on the Synchronize Your Library tab of this Research Guide. Questions? Contact SU Libraries for more help.