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Library Services

Support for research postgraduates

Support for research postgraduates
  1. Library Services
  2. Academic Skills Centre
  3. Academic skills support for research postgraduates

Library Services offer a range of support for Queen Mary PhD students, as well as early career researchers and all research staff.

Our Faculty Liaison Librarians offer appointments for one-to-one training and group workshops throughout the year. We provide help with planning and carrying out a literature search, how to identify the best resources for your research and the effective use of reference management tools.

Our Repository and Research Information Team provide support with open-access publishing, managing, preserving and storing your research data, managing access to your thesis, and author tools such as managing your research identity and understanding your research metrics.

Our Archives and Special Collections service curates and provides access to a wealth of fascinating institutional, personal archives and rare prints, dating from the 17th Century to the present day.

The Queen Mary Academy provide other skills support for researchers at all levels.

I very much enjoyed the session today, it was incredibly helpful and I felt re-energised. I completely lost motivation last week and now I feel that I have discovered new pathways.
— Anonymous PHD student

Researcher Development Programme

Student studying

We provide  sessions/workshops to all Early Career Researchers encompassing broader research/information literacy skills. We offer a range of bitesize and longer sessions, which all PhD students (and staff) can attend. 

Below are the sessions available, usually bookable through: cpdbookings.qmul.ac.uk

We are running similar sessions for the three Faculties which will be focusing on your needs. Feel free to attend any of the sessions, but bear in mind that the Faculty specific sessions will be geared towards that faculty and will contain mainly examples from that specific faculty. 

Research it!

Suitable for all new and early-career researchers, including PhD students and research staff, who are interested in exploring and developing their understanding of information and research skills and the scope of key resources within their area of research.

This session is designed to be highly interactive and participant driven.

Duration: 2 hours

 

Feedback from previous participants

"Very good course for starting PhD students"

"Excellent lesson content, it is really useful for researchers"

 

To book yourself on the next session, go to the CPD Booking system.

Medicine and Dentistry: RD-LIB-009

Science and Engineering: RD-LIB-008

Let's search it!

Let’s search it! provides a deeper exploration of some of the topics covered in Research it! and takes a comprehensive look into the skills and resources which can be used for a successful (re)search experience. Suitable for all new and early-career researchers, including PhD students and research staff, who are interested in developing their search skills. This session is designed to be highly interactive and participant driven.
Duration: 2 hours 

Feedback from previous participants

"It's really helpful, I really learned a lot."

"The search exercises were useful to get comfortable with the material."

 

To book yourself on the next session go to the CPD Booking system.

Medicine and Dentistry: RD-LIB-014

Science and Engineering: RD-LIB-013

Endnote

This is a skills workshop suitable for academic staff and post graduates, teaching or research assistants, who are interested in using the referencing system Endnote.

Duration: 2 hours

Feedback from previous participants:

"It was my first session about Endnote. I got introduction, its features, how to use it in different ways."

"Learned a new tool to organise my references and help me easier to insert references in my document"

"I have never known how to use Endnote until today. I don't know how I've managed without it all this time"

 

To book yourself on the next session go to the CPD Booking system.

Humanities and Social Sciences: RD-LIB-022

Medicine and Dentistry: RD-LIB-003

Science and Engineering: RD-LIB-007

Mendeley It! Using Mendeley to manage your references

With the Mendeley Reference Manager, you can easily organize and search your personal library, annotate documents and cite as you write. The examples in the session will mainly be geared towards Science and Engineering students.
The session will centre around the web version. Please bring a laptop with Mendeley pre-installed, if you do want to follow along when I go through a few features of the desktop version. The desktop version is currently not fully installed on the stationary computers in the Library.

Duration: 2 hours

 

Positives from previous participants

"The tips and tricks I wouldn't have found out without."

"Finding out how to collaborate using Mendeley"

  

To book yourself on the next session go to the CPD Booking system, and search the session code: RD-LIB-015.

Visualise it! Your research in focus

A practical hands-on session covering the process of research. It gives the participants a chance to explore their research topics, and plan for the future, in a supportive environment, through four distinct exercises.
Anyone can join in, either in their first steps of defining a topic or to acquire a new fresh look on their research, skills and practices.
The session was created with S&E PHD students in mind, but has been proven to be useful for other Early Career Researchers. 

Objectives

By the end of the session, participants should be able to:

  • Creatively construct and/or explore a research topic
  • Identify skills needed to successfully conclude a research process
  • Plan for a successful completion of their research projects

Duration: 2 hours

 

Feedback from previous participants

"I learned how to take a bird's eye view of my project."

"It was a lot of fun!"

"It was good to talk to people doing a range of different projects and see their opinions."

"We get a better understanding of our research via the visualised way proposed during the session"

 

To book yourself on the next session go to the CPD Booking system, and search for the session code RD-LIB-017.

 

Literature searching for systematic reviews

This course will take you through the process of literature searching for systematic reviews in medicine, dentistry and related disciplines. It comprises online learning (via QMplus) and a live workshop session.

Objectives

By the end of the session, participants should be able to:

  • Understand what a systematic review is and the process involved
  • Prepare and plan your review
  • Construct a focused research question using the PICO framework, or similar
  • Identify appropriate search terms based on your research question
  • Design a comprehensive search strategy and perform effective searches on key databases
  • Identify other appropriate sources to ensure you find all the best available evidence

Duration: 2 hours online learning (approx.) and a 1.5 hour workshop

To book yourself on the next session go to the CPD Booking system, and search for the session code RD-LIB-025.

 

Bitesize Webinars 

Join our bitesize research skills webinar at the comfort of your desk. Open to all staff and PhD students. The only requirement is that you have an internet connection and are willing/able to participate for 10 minutes.
Duration: 10 minutes (+ 5 minutes for questions)

Feedback from previous participants

"Excellent content delivery"

"Thank you for the very helpful and brief Web of Science Webinar"

 

To book yourself on the next session go to the CPD Booking system, and search for the session code: RDWEB, to see all scheduled Bitesize sessions.

Harvard Referencing: A Library Introduction.

Duration: 1 hour.

Online.

Developed for a Humanities and Social Sciences audience but accessible and useful for participants with a Science and Engineering or Medicine and Dentistry background.

By the end of this course, participants should:

  • Know WHAT the Harvard referencing style is.
  • Know WHY we use the the Harvard referencing style.
  • Know HOW to use the Harvard referencing style.
  • Know about TOOLS to help you reference in the Harvard style.

To book yourself on the next session go to the CPD Booking system, and search for the session code RD-LIB-023.

It gave space to be creative. The collage was a very welcome exercise and remember why the subject is of interest in the first place and right for you. To think AROUND the topic
— Visualise It! participant
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