Cambridge University Libraries course timetable
December 2024
| Wed 4 |
How to deposit a dataset in Apollo
[Places]
This session is an introduction on how to deposit a dataset into Apollo, the University of Cambridge repository. We will give a brief overview of data repositories and take you through the steps of the Apollo depositing process, what information you need to upload your dataset and the importance of good metadata. There will also be an opportunity for Q&A. |
| Thu 5 |
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. |
| Mon 9 |
Medicine: Getting the best results - improving your database searching (for NHS staff only)
[Places]
A course specifically for NHS staff. Attendees will learn how to search databases accessed with an Athens login (such as Medline, Embase and Cinahl) effectively and efficiently, to learn how to save searches and references, and to create and maintain a bibliography. All attendees are required to have an NHS Athens login. University of Cambridge staff and students wanting to learn similar material should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching (for University) course instead. Please note that this session takes place in person, in the Medical Library training room. |
| Tue 10 |
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. |
| Wed 11 |
Finding grey literature can be a challenging element of research and assessed work. This course explains what grey literature is and why it should be included in systematic or literature reviews, sites and sources of grey literature, alternative search engines to Google and how to search Google more effectively. This course is aimed at those who are including grey literature in their systematic or literature reviews, but may also be of interest to those who want to search the web more efficiently. |
| Thu 12 |
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. |
| Mon 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. |
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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. |
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| Tue 17 |
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. |
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The UL is unique: a national, legal deposit library with an amazing collection of around 8 million items - over two million of which you can browse on our open shelves. If that sounds a bit daunting, why not come on a brief orientation tour to help you find your way around? We’ll even tell you what we keep in the famous Library tower ... Please note this tour does not cover the University's vast electronic and digital collections: to find out more about using these, please see check for courses on our timetable or ask a member of Library staff for help. |
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| Wed 18 |
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. |
January 2025
| Tue 14 |
Fair attribution for technicians through either co-authorship or direct acknowledgement in research publications is a key component of the ‘visibility’ and ‘recognition’ areas of the Technician Commitment, of which the University of Cambridge was a founding signatory in 2017. However, there is currently no policy or standard practice for acknowledging the role of technicians, equipment and facilities in the University or the wider sector. Technicians experience a great disparity in their recognition and visibility in scholarly outputs. This interactive workshop will introduce you to the scholarly communications process as well as tools such as CRediT and ORCID, and facilitate conversation amongst peers. |
| Mon 20 |
Managing your Research with Endnote
[Places]
Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after crucial research literature, whether planning for a literature review or simply keeping track of developments in a particular discipline. This session will introduce Endnote. Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Endnote (and tools like it) can help maximise a research project workflow while also ensuring that critical resources and information are not lost at any point in the research process. Please note: This session will be offered, either online or in person, in Michaelmas, Lent and Easter terms. |
| Thu 23 |
Publishing in Journals for Beginners (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine)
[Places]
A session 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 session will demystify the peer-review process, and help you to improve the precision and clarity of your academic writing. Please note: This session will be offered, either online or in person, in Michaelmas, Lent and Easter terms. |
| Thu 30 |
This is an interactive online session for anyone engaging in research in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM). Taking account of previously published work on a subject is a key part of research. This session will explore why, where and how to search for academic literature, how to develop an effective search strategy and how to mitigate bias in your searches. By the end of the session, you will be able to:
This session is online and will take one hour including activities. |
February 2025
| Thu 6 |
Managing your References with Zotero
[Places]
Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after crucial research literature, whether planning for a literature review or simply keeping track of developments in a particular discipline. This session will introduce Zotero. Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Zotero (and tools like it) can help maximise a research project workflow while also ensuring that critical resources and information are not lost at any point in the research process. |
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Getting to grips with a new area of research or finding secondary literature to answer a research question can be a daunting task. This session is here to guide you enhance your literature search by introducing key resources and strategies that you can use for finding materials, illustrating a range of techniques for searching, and discussing how to stay up to date with research in your field. In the session, as well as looking at the Cambridge University Libraries' online catalogue iDiscover, we also introduce some of the databases that can be most useful to researches in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences carrying out literature searches. |
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| Thu 13 |
This is an interactive online session for anyone engaging in research in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM). Reading academic literature is critical to writing a literature review and developing your own research. This session will explore how to develop a critical reading strategy for your papers, articles, and other reading material for your research. By the end of the session, you will be able to:
This session is online and will take one hour including activities. |
| Tue 18 |
You've passed your viva. If your examiners requested any corrections, those have been submitted and approved. You now need to deposit a physical copy and an electronic copy of your thesis to the Library. In this session, we will focus on depositing the electronic copy of your thesis, for inclusion in Apollo, the University's Repository. We will cover:
We will finish with a live demonstration of depositing a thesis using Symplectic Elements. |
| Thu 20 |
Note Making for Research in STEMM
[Places]
This is an interactive online session for anyone engaging in research in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM). Making notes on the academic literature you read helps you remember what you have read, clarify your own thoughts, and get started with writing. It also makes your life much easier when you come to adding references to your thesis or publication! This session will explore methods, tools, and strategies for making effective and efficient notes for your research. By the end of the session, you will be able to:
This session is online and will take one hour including activities. |
| Fri 28 |
Effective note making is an essential bridge between reading and writing. When making notes for a long piece of writing, if you paraphrase and interpret as you go along, you will be able to retrieve what you have learned from reading quickly and efficiently and often produce sections that you can drop straight into your work. This session will introduce you to the theory of good note making, discuss different note making techniques and offer advice for deciding which approach best suits your practices. Learning outcomes By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Please note: This session will be offered again in Easter term, date to be confirmed. |
May 2025
| Thu 8 |
You've passed your viva. If your examiners requested any corrections, those have been submitted and approved. You now need to deposit a physical copy and an electronic copy of your thesis to the Library. In this session, we will focus on depositing the electronic copy of your thesis, for inclusion in Apollo, the University's Repository. We will cover:
We will finish with a live demonstration of depositing a thesis using Symplectic Elements |