Learn at the Libraries

You've been told to use academic sources for your assignment. But what are they, and how do you find them? This introductory session will walk you through the process of searching for scholarly information – including how to choose keywords, select databases, use filters, and access the all-important full text. Presenters will share a variety of practical strategies and tips to save you time, and help you find the best information for your assignments!

This session will give you the skills you need to search for research and information like a pro. Using a variety of search techniques (Boolean, truncation, phrase searching, etc), you will search more effectively and efficiently in the library catalog, scholarly databases, and in even in Google.

How do you know if something is appropriate for use in your assignments? In this workshop you will deepen your understanding of peer reviewed sources, think about the different ways to evaluate the credibility of academic and popular sources - including AI - and learn about additional considerations for evaluating information on Indigenous topics.

Citing sources can help students avoid plagiarism but why else is citing important, and how does someone learn to cite sources correctly? What role do ethics and equity play in citing a source? In this workshop, we will demystify the process of citing in university and share practical information about topics such as understanding when to cite, using different types of citations, navigating complicated style guides, and making the best use of helpful tools and resources. This session aims to help you learn to think critically about the sources you encounter and feel more confident in your writing! Bring your citation questions to ask at the end.

Literature reviews (also called narrative reviews) are found in various formats in academic writing. They can be stand-alone articles, a chapter in a thesis/dissertation, or a capstone project. This session will cover how to create a research question and why it's so important to the literature review. Topic selection, developing the search, keeping track of references, and structuring the literature review will also be discussed.

This informative session guides you through the complete process of preparing your publication. It covers important factors to consider when selecting a journal, how the peer-review and revision process works, understanding open access options, copyright issues, and how to keep track of potential future citations of your work.

This session explores various networking and academic profile websites to help you determine why tools like these matter and to choose which one(s) are appropriate for you. These tools raise the profile of a researcher at any stage of their career and better highlight scholarly impact. ORCID, ScopusID, ResearcherID, and Google Scholar are compared.

Peer review is an essential part of academic writing and publishing. Learn about how to complete a peer review, why peer review is important, and ethical dimensions of peer review. We'll run through some examples of providing peer review, with lots of time for any questions. 

This session will give you the skills you need to search for research and information like a pro. Using a variety of search techniques (Boolean, truncation, phrase searching, etc), you will search more effectively and efficiently in the library catalog, scholarly databases, and in even in Google.

Research Data Management (RDM) practices are increasingly being mandated for researchers in Canada. This session will introduce students to the “what” and why” of RDM, including underlying principles and current requirements from funders and publishers. 

Discover the foundational elements needed to carry out a knowledge synthesis review and what types of reviews to consider including systematic or scoping reviews.  This session provides an introduction to helpful tools and resources to develop a plan to carry out a publishable review.

For those embarking on a a systematic review, this session offers vital insights into necessary preparations. Learn to set up  accounts across relevant programs, establish structured folder systems for seamless organization, and gain expert advice on documenting and conserving searches essential for protocol development.

Dive deeper into the intricacies of systematic reviews by learning advanced search strategies. Identify the concepts embedded in your research question and how to translate that information to effective search techniques using a combination of keywords and subject headings. Learn how to use the tools in the OVID Medline and EMBASE databases to carry out comprehensive, efficient searches.

Learn how to correctly modify an OVID Medline search strategy to be used in various databases.  This is a difficult and necessary part of effective searching to carry out a quality review worthy of publication.  You will learn how to select and use diverse databases and essential tools for documenting your search strategy methodology.  The example used will translate an OVID Medline search to OVID Embase and will demonstrate the principles of how to do this for completing your searches in other OVID, EBSCOhost, or other databases if applicable.

Systematic reviews demand time and complexity, but with the right tools, they become more manageable. Join us in this workshop to explore a diverse array of programs and tools, including emerging artificial intelligence (AI) tools, designed to streamline various aspects of the review process. From crafting protocols to translating search strategies, deduplicating search results, article screening, citation chaining, and conducting risk of bias assessments, this session covers it all. Tools covered will include Covidence, SR Accelerator, ChatGPT, Yale MeSH Analyzer, Ovid Term Finder, Ovid Search Finder, and others.