Cambridge University Libraries course timetable
April 2023
| Mon 3 |
Medicine: Embase and Medline Q & A
[Places]
This session is aimed at NHS and University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of Embase and Medline via the Ovid interface. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff. |
| Tue 4 |
Medicine: PubMed Q & A
[Places]
This session is aimed at NHS and University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of PubMed. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff. |
| Tue 18 |
A course specifically for University of Cambridge staff and students. Attendees will learn how to search medical/healthcare databases accessed with a Raven login (such as Medline and Embase) effectively and efficiently, to learn how to save searches and references, and to create and maintain a bibliography. This course is delivered at an introductory/refresher level, and assumes you have had no prior training in how to search databases. All attendees are required to have a Raven login. NHS staff wanting to learn similar material should book onto our 'Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching' course instead. UPDATE: This session is taking place in the Medical Library's training room, not online. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Thu 20 |
A course designed to take you step-by-step through academic writing and publication, with tips and resources to make writing up as simple as possible. The course will demystify the peer-review process, and help you to improve the precision and clarity of your academic writing. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Mon 24 |
Before undertaking any piece of primary research it’s important to be aware of as much of the existing literature as possible. A systematic literature review can also be a research end in itself. And it’s not something to be taken lightly. But how can you be sure you’re being as rigorous as necessary? How can you manage the references you find, document the process, and also know when to stop searching? This session assumes attendees have already had prior introductory training in literature searching. It is a prerequisite that you have attended either Introduction to Literature Searching (if you are a University of Cambridge staff member or student) or Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching (if you are an NHS staff member). Exceptions will be made if you received similar training from another department or university - please contact us if you have any questions about prerequisites. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Tue 25 |
You have your research topic and access to millions of resources – but how do you find relevant material? This session will help you turn your research idea into a comprehensive search strategy designed to get maximum results. It will cover creating targeted keywords, filtering results, evaluating materials and recording your methods to save you time throughout your project. Do something nice for future you and book your place on this session today. |
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There is an increasing emphasis in research on the management and sharing of data. Many funding bodies that support research undertaken at Cambridge require not only open access to any publications based on that research, but also to the data underlying it. This course will help you understand funders’ requirements for management and sharing of research data, and will provide opportunities to create your own data management plan and test out resources that will make the data management process easier. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
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| Wed 26 |
Medicine: Web of Science Q & A
[Places]
This session is aimed at University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of the Web of Science database. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff. |
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Developing your literature review: literature searching for research (for Biological Sciences)
[Places]
This session equips participants with all the fundamental skills that they need to build and execute effective search strategies to locate relevant materials for literature reviews, projects and other related research activities. The session will explore key searching techniques, where to search, how to troubleshoot common searching problems, as well as keeping up to date with the latest research. This session will include live demonstrations of scientific databases to demonstrate the key principles covered in action. |
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| Thu 27 |
Medicine: Scopus Q & A
[Places]
This session is aimed at University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of the Scopus database. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff. |
| Fri 28 |
Know Moore About: Web of Science
[Places]
Move beyond iDiscover and discover the world of databases. Using Web of Science, this session will guide you through basic and advanced search functions, finding relevant content for your research and setting alerts to keep on top of new material Register for this session and search smart. |
May 2023
| Tue 2 |
A course to take you through conference poster design, with tips and resources to help with the content and presentation in order to ensure you communicate your research effectively. The course will cover where to source good quality, free graphics, how to include references in your poster, and advice about how best to present it at a conference. The session will NOT involve hands-on creation of a poster. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
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Know Moore About: Scopus
[Places]
Move beyond iDiscover and discover the world of databases. Using Scopus, this session will guide you through basic and advanced search functions, finding relevant content for your research and setting alerts to keep on top of new material Register for this session and search smart. |
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| Thu 4 |
Publishing a protocol -- stating in advance the search strategy, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data analysis and other evaluative techniques -- is a core requirement for conducting a systematic review. The process of writing this protocol will also mean you have written in advance a large chunk of what will need to go into the finished systematic review, saving you a huge amount of time. This session will cover the contents and types of information you will need to provide in your protocol, and will give attendees the opportunity to write a draft protocol, as well as highlighting helpful resources and further support. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
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Developing your literature review: going further with your research (for Biological Sciences)
[Places]
This session will help researchers go further with their literature review through exploring key skills such as critical evaluation, structural reading, effective note-taking, and getting started with writing your literature review. |
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| Tue 9 |
This course will help you understand how to undertake a risk of bias assessment of a systematic review, assessing its reliability, trustworthiness, and applicability. The session uses the ROBIS tool to assess a preselected published systematic review. We ask that you read a paper that will be provided before you attend the session, in order for us to make the best use of the time together. UPDATE: Please note that some Medical Library sessions are taught in person, and some are taught online. Please ensure you check the venue details before booking a place. If it is an online session you will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Wed 10 |
This course will help you understand how to critically evaluate medical research articles, with a particular emphasis on evaluating the reliability, trustworthiness, and applicability of an article in informing evidence-based practice and decision-making in a healthcare context. We will send you the article in advance, and it is a prerequisite that you read it before attending the session, and bring a copy with you to class. UPDATE: Please note that some Medical Library sessions are taught in person, and some are taught online. Please ensure you check the venue details before booking a place. If it is an online session you will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Thu 11 |
Need to create a conference poster but are not sure where to start? This session will introduce participants to the fundamentals of designing an effective and engaging poster that is perfect for communicating research ideas. The session will look at good design practice, where to source free high quality graphics, as well as deciding what you should (and maybe shouldn't) include in your final poster. |
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You have learnt how to search for journal articles and books, but sometimes things get a bit more complicated. In this session, you will learn how to apply your search techniques to a range of sources to find technical and industry information. You will discover a range of resources for finding industry and market information. You will also consider how technical information can be found in patent and standard information and explore a range of resources for finding patent and standard information. |
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Referencing is an important part of the academic ecosystem. It can showcase the range of sources you have read, allow the reader to follow up on any interesting points and help to avoid the problem of plagiarism. But referencing can also be time consuming. This session will explore reference management tools and how they can support you throughout the entire research process from discovery to write up. Using Zotero as an example, it will cover how to import references from a range of sources, create easy in-text citations and produce a bibliography at the click of a button. |
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| Fri 12 |
Conference posters are a simple, visual, and effective way of sharing your research. Students will explore key design principles for creating an effective conference poster. You will understand design basics, consider readability and layout, and explore presenting your poster. |
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Medicine: EndNote Q & A
[Places]
An introductory session showcasing how to manage your references using EndNote desktop and EndNote online. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
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| Mon 15 |
Looking after your online presence as a researcher: academic platforms (for Biological Sciences)
[Places]
This session discusses the benefits and challenges of maintaining an online presence as a researcher. Part of two sessions on this topic, this first session looks at setting up your academic persona and using academic platforms. Starting with exploring what comes up through a quick Google search all the way through to maintaining profiles on academic sites, we will look at the pros and cons of online engagement. This will include tools such as ORCID, and networking sites such as academia.edu and ResearchGate. Participants should expect to have the opportunity to critically evaluate the various options presented in this session with the overall aim of being better informed when deciding where to invest their time and efforts when building an academic presence online. |
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Research posters are a great way to communicate your project to an interested audience, but they are not just an excuse to cram an entire article onto a single sheet of paper! This session will cover what it takes to design and present a research poster including what to include, accessibility concerns, using illustrations to make an impact and presenting both in-person and online. Book your place today. |
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| Tue 16 |
Medicine: Zotero Q & A
[Places]
An introductory session showcasing how to manage your references using Zotero. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |