How to view entries with document attachments

sageng

I'm trying to figure out to how to use Zotero as a repository for all my electronic documents. From what I understand, I can use Zotpad (which I have not bought yet)for this purpose on my iPad, but I also need to access the document library on the computer.

When I am using the Zotero standalone, how can I view *only the entries that have document attachments*, so that I can browse my document base specifically, and not the complete list of my citation entries? I have installed Zotfile, but I haven't discovered any way to view just these entries with it.

adamsmith

create a saved search (in the advanced search (mangifier icon)) - play around with the search options to see what works for you.

sageng

thanks! I now made search for document attachment type and OR'ed pdf, document and presentation and sorted by author. Workable and should help me a lot. I feel there should be some way to just view the document base though.

adamsmith

you mean just show the attached document? Why? You're aware that the attachment will open when you double click the parent item, yes?

sageng

of course. The reason is that I want to use Zotero as a document library. Only 1 in 10 of the entries are going to have documents in them, so I need a way to see the document library specifically (rather than clicking around on the entries and hope for the best).

adamsmith

but doesn't the saved search take care of that?
Also, you can see if an item has an attachment in the + column of the middle panel.
Or am I missing something?

sageng

yes the saved search was a good tip (though it is a bit untidy). No attachments visible in the +column that I can see? I see that many entries have the number 1, but those do not have attachments.

adamsmith

You can assign a tag to all items in the saved search (select them all and drag them to tag in the tag selector to the left). That way you can just click on the tag in your regular library view and only see items with attachments.
The 1 in the plus column should be the number of attachments, it counts links, notes, and snapshots as attachments as well.

sageng

hm. I tried marking the documents in the search and move them to the panes on the left, but nothing happened.

adamsmith

see the instructions in this guide:
http://ica.library.oregonstate.edu/tutorials/lesson/626--Introduction-to-Zotero?mid=24246&type=MiscellaneousResource&uid=1246
maybe that makes this clearer? It definitely works.

sageng

thanks, I'll look at it. Just a note, I am using the standalone version, in case that makes a difference.

adamsmith

This is the same in FF and Standalone.