Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Libraries offering Research Skills workshop series

The WVU Libraries’ Research Skills workshops provide research tips and tricks for success in academics. Prep for your next research assignment, find resources for a literature review, situate yourself in previous literature, and learn where to find key resources by attending one or more of these workshops.

To register for these workshops, follow the links attached to each event.

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Online

Doing dissertation research? This presentation explores the tools ProQuest DTG provides. It will also cover how to access and link search results to our WVU Library website.

From Page to Database: Finding Scholarly Articles from Popular Sources

This online workshop will help alleviate the stress of research by bolstering your skills to identify quality and scholarly sources from articles found in casual reading.

Finding Full Text...Fast Online

Have you ever found a great article online, but hit a paywall to access the full text? This workshop introduces plug-ins and online tools that get you to the full-text fast, whether you're on or off campus.

Learn how to use HathiTrust

HathiTrust provides full text to items out of copyright protection, selected from large libraries like Harvard University and the University of Michigan. This in-person presentation will cover the specific tools found in HathiTrust and how to use them. Navigation of the site, understanding the search results and linking the database to the WVU Library website will be explained in detail. Join us in Evansdale Library, Room 130.

Introduction to Federal Policy and Legislative Resources

In this workshop participants will learn how to locate and utilize resources for policy and legislative resources. In addition to resources for bills and laws, users will also be provided with an introduction on how to find supporting documents including current and historical legislative histories, hearings, documents and prints.

This workshop will be held in person in Room 104 of the Downtown Campus Library and online. If you are planning on attending in-person, you will need to bring a laptop.

Getting the Most Out of Google Scholar

Google Scholar offers several powerful features that scholars may not be familiar with. This workshop will introduce key differences between searching in Google Scholar and library databases, techniques for increasing your access to full-text materials and other more sophisticated features to improve your search results.

By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to:

• Understand the strengths and limitations of Google Scholar

• Personalize Google Scholar accounts by creating alerts, claiming an author profile, and linking to WVU Libraries holdings

• Apply advanced search techniques for creating focused search strategies in Google Scholar

• Articulate some of the privacy concerns related to Google and methods to mediate them

This workshop will be offered twice:

Finding Full Text...Fast Online

Nexis Uni for Government Information: Deep Dive into a Database

Nexis Uni is a library database that allows you access state and federal government documents, including codes, constitutions, legislation, court cases and more. Each entry is annotated with relevant laws and cases. In this workshop, participants will learn how to navigate and access these resources using the database.

This workshop will be held in Room 2036 of the Downtown Campus Library. If you are planning on attending in-person, you will need to bring a laptop.

Getting Started on a Literature Review

Do you have a literature review in your future? Come learn the steps of a lit review and practice database search strategies. Registration required. This workshop will be held on Zoom.

This workshop will be offered twice:

Search Strategy Design for Biomedical Systematic Reviews

Explore the basics of conducting a systematic literature review, including how to frame a research question, developing a search strategy and searching the biomedical literature databases. Related LibGuide: Systematic Reviews by Jennifer Monnin.

This workshop will be offered twice:

Research Tools and Software for Academic Writing

This workshop will highlight popular online tools that assist writers with various stages of paper or essay writing. Find out ways to improve your writing skills with online tools designed to help you write more effectively. Writing and research tools discussed will cover topics including grammar, editing, plagiarism, citation management and project management software.

Finding & Searching Teaching Methods and Techniques Online

Doing research on teaching in higher ed? Explore databases for locating articles on topics such as active learning, critical thinking and assessment.

Register for this workshop scheduled at 4-5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22

From Page to Database: Finding Scholarly Articles from Popular Sources

Do you want to be able to identify quality articles, and find scholarly sources from articles you might see in casual reading? This online workshop will help alleviate the stress of research by bolstering your skills in both of those fields. Be prepared for some interactive participation in evaluating articles.

Finding Social Science Datasets

Social scientists use data to trace, understand and make predictions about the social world. This workshop will introduce two of the leading repositories of Social Science research data: the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research and the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. This workshop will meet in Downtown Campus Library, Classroom 136. By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to:

• Apply searching and browsing techniques to identify relevant datasets for secondary analysis

• Understand a dataset record and other data documentation

• Perform downloads of full datasets

This workshop will be offered twice:

Writing about Data: A Scientific Writing Workshop

Are you a graduate student with a technical report or data-heavy thesis in your future? This workshop will explain the conventions of writing about data, including integrating tables and graphs, using the passive voice and writing successful summaries. This workshop will meet in Evansdale Library, Rooms 228/229. A light pizza supper will be provided. Registration is required.

Introduction to Engineering Village

This online workshop will focus on finding better ways to use the Engineering Village Database. It can be used as an OCE.

Introduction to the IEEE Database

This online workshop will focus on using the IEEE database more efficiently. This will count as an OCE.

Introduction to the IEEE Database (In-person)

This in-person workshop will focus on using the IEEE database more efficiently and will count as an OCE. This session will be held at the Evansdale Library, Room 130.

Which one works best: Web of Science, Scopus or Google Scholar?

Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar allow you to get a landscape of a field of research. By comparing these three tools, you can discover the advantages and disadvantages for using these bibliographic databases.