Most of the time, using the built-in Zotero style for "Chicago Manual of Style (notes and bibliography)" is functionally like using Turabian. In fact, if you need to cite or format something that you can't find in Turabian, Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) should be your next stop.
Because Turabian is derived from CMOS, there can be times when the most-recent CMOS implements a change that is not yet reflected in the most recent Turabian. During these times, your citations using CMOS will not reflect Turabian. (For example, when CMOS 18 was released and Turabian 9 was still in effect, Turabian still required including the publisher location in citations even though CMOS 18 no longer required it.)
Fortunately, Zotero makes available over 10,000 custom styles, including an appropriate version of Turabian. You can install the most recent version of Turabian like you would install any other custom style. (As of the writing of this Library Guide, the style you want to install is "Turabian 9th edition (notes and bibliography, subsequent author-only citations)."
Sometimes when you add a record to Zotero from a library catalog, database, or website, Zotero brings information you may not need.
Researchers sometimes consult archival material during their research. Citing that material often requires the name of the archive and a record location in that archive. Zotero provides two fields, Archive and Loc. in Archive, that let researchers do that.
Unfortunately, some databases use those fields for other reasons. When this happens, Zotero includes that information in a citation, even when the style guide says it should not.
When you add records to Zotero, first check whether that record (especially for journal articles, but also for other electronic records) has a DOI or a URL:
The "Extra" field is useful in specifc contexts (like creating an annotated bibliography or citing non-standard item types or fields), but sometimes Zotero uses it for book metadata that is not relevant for footnotes and citations. For example, you might see a note about the number of pages a book has, how many illustrations or maps it contains, or even the physical dimensions of the book. When you add a resource to your library, check the "Extra" field and remove any unnecessary information. For example, text like "Section: 1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 24 cm" can be safely removed. It is unlikely that anything that Zotero automatically adds to that field is useful for your footnotes and bibliographies.
Zotero provides item types for journal articles, conference papers, books, and chapters in edited volumes ("book sections"), and other commonly-cited sources. Usually, these are chosen automatically when you add a resource from a library catalog, database, or website. In academic writing, you may want to cite an item type that Zotero does not provide. For example, how can you cite a musical score in Zotero? How can you add an Illustrator to the list of authors of a children's book? You can do each of these things using Zotero's "Extra" field.
Zotero has extensive documentation about extra item types and fields. If you enter these types and fields correctly, Zotero can interpret them and include them in your footnotes and bibliography. Here is an example:
The book Goodnight, Dragons was written by Judith Roth and illustrated by Pascal LeMaitre. Zotero correctly adds Roth as the author, but LeMaitre might get added as an author as well, as a "Contributor," or ignored altogether. Adding "Illustrator: LeMaitre || Pascal" in the "Extra" field results in the correct footnote: Judith L. Roth, Goodnight, Dragons, 1st ed, ill. Pascal LeMaître (New York: Disney/Hyperion Books, 2012) instead of the incorrect footnote: Judith L. Roth and Pascal LeMaître, Goodnight Dragons, 1st ed (New York: Disney/Hyperion Books, 2012). Note: if an illustrator is misidentified as an author or contributor, you must also delete that field.