Advantage of a group library over sharing the same account?

marta_marzi · November 17, 2017

Hi all,
I want to use Zotero to share papers across my work team. I am trying to understand what is the advantage of having a group library (paying for some storage upgrade) over sharing the same account across people saving papers on a shared dropbox. I see other teams in my organization use the second option (that is also free).
Thanks

bwiernik · November 17, 2017

You absolutely should not store your Zotero database in Dropbox or any other sort of synced cloud folder. That will lead to corruption and other problems. You can use the Zotfile plugin to store just the attachment files in Dropbox (using free Zotero syncing to sync the database itself), but with multiple users, in my experience, that can be tricky to set up and can have unexpected problems with syncing and file access across different computers. Probably the biggest downside of this setup is that it really limits what each team member can do with Zotero (e.g., if they want to use their own personal libraries or be members of other groups). It also makes it much more difficult to remove access from a team member if they leave the team. You also can’t have different levels of control/editing privileges across members. Finally, the zotero.org web interface won’t show the attachment files if you use Dropbox rather than Zotero storage.

Using a Zotero Group is both much easier and more flexible. Each member can be a part of the group, but also keep their own libraries and other group memberships. Note that you only need to buy storage for the group owner, not each member (whereas Dropbox for example counts the storage against all users). We recommend having a dedicated “team account” be the owner with at least two people knowing the logic details in case someone leaves. The price of Zotero storage is comparable to similar services (e.g., Mendeley) and maxes out at 120 USD for unlimited storage (and you can always start at a lower tier and upgrade as needed). For me, the ease of setting up new users across my numerous groups without having to fiddle with file paths and Dropbox syncing makes the annual price well worth it.