For the Zotero assignment, I chose to research eLearning in the corporate world. Like many of the tools we are now using, I appreciate the ease of collaboration. This is yet another example of how technology improves eLearning by removing the manual labor and allowing students to focus on academics.
I soon learned that although convenient, Zotero is far from thorough. Most of the fields were left vacant and required the information to be populated by the reader. When exporting the references from the browser or the stand alone version, it is still necessary to check all the references for accuracy. The formatting was not proper. The title of articles was consistently exported in title case instead of sentence case. The journal names and volumes were not italicized. I used Word to modify the references as necessary. It was a bit frustrating that copying and pasting the references into the EDTECH forum and wordpress resulted in the loss of formatting.
It is a bit ironic how quickly I moved from being ecstatic with the discovery of a new tool to disappointment with its failure to meet my expectations. I am certain this is just a side affect of our society’s constant inundation and the growing accessibility of improved technology. We quickly dismiss any application that falls short of its full potential and adopt the latest trending app. Although this may sound like a negative view of innovation, it is quite the contrary. High expectation spurs innovation to the next level. I believe this is merely a modern case of supply and demand. As the end users demand more feature rich applications, software developers compete to supply them with just that.
Below are my references.
Choy, S. (2009). Transformational learning in the workplace. Journal of Transformative Education, 7(1), 65–84. doi:10.1177/1541344609334720
Ha, T. S. (2008). How IT workers learn in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, 30(2), 129–143. doi:10.1080/01580370802097728
Hogg, S. (2006). Adult education in the workplace: An engineer’s journey to foster self-direction in others. Adult Learning, 17(1-4), 24–26. Retrieved from http://libproxy.boisestate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=35687571&site=ehost-live
Ren, C. R., & Guo, C. (2011). Middle managers’ strategic role in the corporate entrepreneurial process: Attention-based effects. Journal of Management, 37(6), 1586–1610. doi:10.1177/0149206310397769
Roman, H. T. (2004). Blame it on the engineers. Technology Teacher, 63(6), 21–23. Retrieved from http://libproxy.boisestate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=12547739&site=ehost-live
Vadivelu, R. N., & Klein, J. D. (2008). Cross-cultural analysis of HPT: An empirical investigation of HPT competencies in the workplace in the United States and South Asia. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 20(3-4), 147–165. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.boisestate.edu/docview/218517265?accountid=9649
melissastlaurent 
Melissa, I have to agree with you on your comments. Zotero is better than what I was doing before. However, it is not perfect. Although, I have a whole shelf of articles for previous projects. It would be terrific if all of those references with correct information were in one location (like zotero), with comments in the references, i.e., “on page 342 the author confirms the ideas promoted by Mr. Knowsalot.” I have reread many an articles wondering later why I thought it was a terrific jumble of words. LOL