When Zotero recognizes bibliographic record data on a web page, it places an icon of a book, article, essay, etc. (see examples below) in the right corner of the browser's address line. (If Zotero doesn't recognize any bibliographic record data on the page, it will give you the option to save the data for the website itself.)  If you don't see one of these icons, look under the icon for connectors that looks like a puzzle piece in Chrome.

To add the record to Zotero, simply click on the icon.

A small dialog box will appear in the lower right corner of your browser, indicating that Zotero is saving the record.

You'll now be able to see the record in your Zotero collection.

NOTE: Zotero doesn't differentiate between dissertations and theses; it uses the "Thesis" designation for both. However, all citation styles use the same format for dissertation bibliographies and thesis bibliographies, so it doesn't really matter.

TIP: Check the bibliographic information for every item you import as you import it. Records imported from library websites often have extra punctuation and stray characters, which will take your citations and references out of compliance with your citation style.

If the full text of the article is in a database, a PDF copy of the article will be brought in with the record. Double-clicking on the Full Text link will open the PDF of the article.

NOTE: Free Zotero accounts only have 300 MB of storage space. If you'd like to turn the auto-save function off, right click on the source icon in your browser and select Options. Under the "General" tab, make sure the "Automatically download associated PDFs and other files" option is unchecked.