Book Your Own Virtual Mini Research Workshop

Are there library/research skills you'd like to improve?  Consider booking a personalized virtual workshop on one of the following below.  These workshops are personalized for you or for a group.  All workshops will take place via Zoom.

While you may be familiar with Google Scholar as a way to use the Google search capabilities to find scholarly literature, you may not know all the tools that can help you  link to VU content, find other possible sources on a topic or research question, and be more precise in your searching. Learn about these features by signing up for the Google Scholar Workshop!

Using Google Scholar, attendees will be able to 

• Set up Google Scholar to make sure that it is connecting to content
• Utilize “Cited By” and “Related Articles” features to uncover potential sources
• Create more precise, targeted searches in “Advanced Search” by limiting to a specific author, date, journal and more.

This workshop sounds like just what I need!  How can I schedule?

Using the "Email Me" button in the profile box on the left, send me an email with the name of the workshop you want, along with some proposed dates and specifics you might need/want for that workshop (e.g. what topic are you researching?)  I'll be back in touch with a date and information on workshop logistics.

Research takes a lot of time, especially keeping track of things and finding them again.  Did you know that many of the VU databases have tools to help you with your research and citations? Learn some of the time saving features of the ProQuest and EBSCO databases!

Using the ProQuest and EBSCO databases, attendees will be able to

Use the “cite” feature in order to generate a citation
Find and copy a link for your search strategy in order to come back to that search for future use
Utilize the alert feature in order to keep track of research

This workshop sounds like just what I need!  How can I schedule?

Using the "Email Me" button in the profile box on the left, send me an email with the name of the workshop you want, along with some proposed dates and specifics you might need/want for that workshop (e.g. what topic are you researching?)  I'll be back in touch with a date and information on workshop logistics.

Searching the literature can seem overwhelming, especially making sure you’ve searched in all the possible places. How can you make sure you’re not missing something? How do you ensure you’ve examined all the important scholarship on a topic? Learn how to make the process less stressful by signing up for the “Comprehensive Literature Search” workshop!

What will I learn?

• Identify sources to search, including discipline specific databases, in order to ensure process is comprehensive
• Utilize a source’s reference list/bibliography to uncover potential sources
• Employ tools, such as Web of Science and Google Scholar, to discover sources that cite a particular article
• Request materials not available via the Vanderbilt Libraries

This workshop sounds like just what I need!  How can I schedule?

Using the "Email Me" button in the profile box on the left, send me an email with the name of the workshop you want, along with some proposed dates and specifics you might need/want for that workshop (e.g. what topic are you researching?)  I'll be back in touch with a date and information on workshop logistics.

What is “reading for research”? It is not the same as pleasure reading, but neither is it simply picking out and citing small bits of information from texts. Good academic readers understand the structure and purpose of research articles and recognize how they can fit into a broader network of ideas. To help you better “read for research,” this workshop will review the basic principles of scholarly literature and offer practical strategies for understanding what you read and how it speaks within the wider scholarly conversation.

Workshop Learning Outcomes

• Describe the structure of Introduction-Methods-Results-Discussion (IMRD) research articles 
• Define the purpose of each part of a research article 
• Recognize research as an ongoing conversation among researchers 
• Describe how hunting down citations and references can help readers follow the research conversation 

This workshop sounds like just what I need!  How can I schedule?

Using the "Email Me" button in the profile box on the left, send me an email with the name of the workshop you want, along with some proposed dates and specifics you might need/want for that workshop (e.g. what topic are you researching?)  I'll be back in touch with a date and information on workshop logistics.