Word Plugin: Zotero Insert Citation Problem because of nearly identical library entries

D.Sip
Hi,

I have a big problem with inserting citations into my word document and a smaller one with how they are displayed as footnotes.

Let me start by saying that to a degree my problem is stemming from the particular kind of sources I use. I work primarily with newspaper articles and have to organize hundreds of them. However, I would assume that any historical or archival research will have a similar issue. But my forum search did not yield any similar problems.

1. My big problem is that if I try to insert a source with Zotero I am unable to identify the source I am looking for. When I use the nice pop up window in Word, in which I can search for the source i am trying to cite the Zotero drop down bar displays the sources in a fashion which makes it impossible for me to identify the correct one. I give you an example:

I have about 30 articles, which are all part of a column series called "Critic's Corner", published weekly by Robert Bianco in the newspaper USA Today, often on the same page.
e.g.
Robert Bianco, “Critic's Corner”, USA Today May 22 2006. D.01
Bianco, Robert. "Critic's Corner." USA Today Nov 22 2005. D.8.
Bianco, Robert. "Critic's Corner." USA Today Nov 17 2005. D.8.
Robert Bianco, “Critic's Corner”, USA Today Oct 6 2005. D.8


Now, when I search for "Bianco" in the dropdown menu of Zotero word plugin it will display the following:

Critic's corner
Bianco (2006)USA Today. D01.
Critic's corner
Bianco (2005)D8.
Critic's corner
Bianco (2005)D8.
Critic's corner
Bianco (2005)USA Today. D8.

This makes it impossible to identify the one I need. Identification would only be possible, if the full date is given in the drop down menu and not just the year!

2. Problem: I use footnotes and I need Zotero to give me the full bibliographic entry in the style of MLA 7th ed. Similar to the form in a bibliography:
Robert Bianco, “Critic's Corner”, USA Today, May 22 2006, D.01.

Do I need to adjust the citation style for this?

Thanks already for the help.

Best,
Daniel
  • fbennett
    edited June 4, 2014
    On (1), your best bet will be to use the Classic citation dialog. Visit the gear menu, open Preferences, and select the Cite tab. Tick the "Use classic Add Citation dialog" box to set the Classic popup as the default. In the dialog, you can add descriptive columns for the fine-grained data (such as dates) that you need to identify your resources.
  • adamsmith
    For 2) see if Chicago full note fits the bill. MLA has dropped the note based style from its manual, so there's not such thing as a footnote based style in the 7th edition, so if you want that you'll need to customize it.
  • D.Sip
    @fbennett Thank you!! That solved the problem.
  • D.Sip
    @adamsmith Exactly, the MLA isn't much of a help if you need to rely on footnotes. I will try the Chicago full note. Thank you for the tip.

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