William C. Flook, The Examiner
2006-10-10 09:00:00.0
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Fairfax -

George Mason University has launched a preview of Zotero, a free, Web-based program designed to store and organize a wealth of reference data that developers hope will streamline digital research.

GMU released the initial, or “beta,” version of Zotero last week with plans of a full release by the end of the year.

In its current form, the program, which works within the popular browser Mozilla Firefox, can gather citations and text of articles from a variety of Web sites, said Daniel Cohen, an assistant professor at GMU and director of research projects at the school’s Center for History and New Media.

The center’s grant-funded project is expected to cost about $1 million, and eventually include a broader base of online resources, more citation styles and possible integration with other free online programs — like Google Maps, Cohen said. A large part of the project is paid for through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

“Zotero is doing everything but writing your paper for you,” he said.

The program is based off a number of pre-existing citation tools, he said, but is the first to integrate the features directly into a Web browser. The interface, according to Cohen, borrows from the popular computer music program; developers are calling it an “iTunes for your references.”

The beta version of Zotero is available at www.zotero.org

wflook@dcexaminer.com