Biological Sciences Libraries Research Skills Series 2021-2022

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, an open source reference manager tool.

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.

This session discusses the benefits and challenges of maintaining an online presence as a researcher. Starting with exploring what comes up through a quick Google search all the way through to maintaining profiles on academic sites, this session will look at the pros and cons of online engagement. Popular platforms such as Twitter and YouTube will be discussed, as will 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.

This session introduces participants to the concept of research data, all the forms that it can take as well as negotiating the management of different data depending on their type.

Topics such as effective storage, handling sensitive data, and developing best practice approaches to avoid data loss during a project will be covered. The session will also explore how to create a data management plan (DMP) and the support available, as well as providing an overview of useful tools and services both within the University of Cambridge and beyond.

This session will give a brief overview of several tools that can be used for collaborative research. Participants will be introduced to Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs), collaborative online writing tools such as Overleaf, OneNote and Evernote, before finishing with a look at GitHub.

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.

This session will provide an overview of the support and resources available from libraries and other useful departments from across the University of Cambridge for new postgraduates and researchers. It will also provide an introduction to the various training opportunities on offer from library staff on a wide range of useful research themes and skills.

After this session, participants will have a better understanding of what services are out there to help support them in their time at Cambridge and who they can ask for help.

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.

In this intensive clinic session, we cover the big take away points from our focused sessions on Developing your Literature Review. Work with an experienced librarian in troubleshooting your literature searching problems when trying to carry out a literature review ranging from generating your initial keywords to working out how to use specialist databases to find scientific literature for your work.

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.

In this intensive clinic session, we cover the big take away points from our focused sessions on Developing your Literature Review. Work with an experienced librarian in troubleshooting your literature searching problems when trying to carry out a literature review ranging from generating your initial keywords to working out how to use specialist databases to find scientific literature for your work.

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, an open source reference manager tool.

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.

We also have dedicated intensive clinics throughout the year to help troubleshoot common issues and answer questions relating to all of our training sessions.

In this intensive clinic session, we cover the big take away points from our focused sessions on using the reference manager tool Zotero. Work with an experienced librarian in getting started with the tool as well as troubleshooting common problems.

This session introduces participants to the concept of research data, all the forms that it can take as well as negotiating the management of different data depending on their type.

Topics such as effective storage, handling sensitive data, and developing best practice approaches to avoid data loss during a project will be covered. The session will also explore how to create a data management plan (DMP) and the support available, as well as providing an overview of useful tools and services both within the University of Cambridge and beyond.

We also have dedicated intensive clinics throughout the year to help troubleshoot common issues and answer questions relating to all of our training sessions.

In this intensive clinic session, we cover the big take away points from our focused sessions on managing your research data effectively and ethically. Work with an experienced librarian to answer any questions you may have such as getting started with your Data Management Plan or what storage options you might need to consider for your work.

You own your own research right? Well it depends...

This session will explore the sometimes complicated world of copyright and what can happen when publishing work through formal routes such as journals or through more informal routes such as pre-print servers. The session will also introduce concepts such as third party copyright as well as how licensing tools such as Creative Commons can be used to not only help maximise the reach of research but also navigating reusing other people's work.

We also have dedicated intensive clinics throughout the year to help troubleshoot common issues and answer questions relating to all of our training sessions.

In this intensive clinic session, we cover the big take away points from our focused sessions on navigating the broad and sometimes complex topic of copyright in the context of your research. Work with an experienced librarian to answer any questions you may have around reusing other people's work, licensing your work for reuse, and working out how to submit your thesis or even publish, all while keeping on the right side of copyright law.

This session discusses the benefits and challenges of maintaining an online presence as a researcher. Starting with exploring what comes up through a quick Google search all the way through to maintaining profiles on academic sites, this session will look at the pros and cons of online engagement. Popular platforms such as Twitter and YouTube will be discussed, as will 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.

We also have dedicated intensive clinics throughout the year to help troubleshoot common issues and answer questions relating to all of our training sessions.

In this intensive clinic session, we cover the big take away points from our focused sessions on managing your online presence as a researcher. Work with an experienced librarian in getting started with key tools such as ORCID as well as discussing the pros and cons of certain platforms such as Twitter in more detail.

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.

We also have dedicated intensive clinics throughout the year to help troubleshoot common issues and answer questions relating to all of our training sessions.

In this intensive clinic session, we cover the big take away points from our focused sessions on designing an effective and impactful conference poster. Work with an experienced librarian in getting started with key tools as well as having the opportunity to discuss design choices, options, and get some feedback on your work so far.