Cambridge University Libraries course timetable
March 2023
| Wed 1 |
Before undertaking any piece of primary research it’s important to be aware of as much of the existing literature as possible. A systematic literature review can also be a research end in itself. And it’s not something to be taken lightly. But how can you be sure you’re being as rigorous as necessary? How can you manage the references you find, document the process, and also know when to stop searching? This session assumes attendees have already had prior introductory training in literature searching. It is a prerequisite that you have attended either Introduction to Literature Searching (if you are a University of Cambridge staff member or student) or Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching (if you are an NHS staff member). Exceptions will be made if you received similar training from another department or university - please contact us if you have any questions about prerequisites. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
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Drop in for a chat with a member of the Biological Sciences Libraries Team: We can help you with lots of things including:
If we can't answer your question in the session, we'll take your details and investigate it further for you! |
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| Thu 2 |
Publishing journal articles is a key element of a successful research career. As you are starting on this journey, you may have a lot of questions, for example:
Please note: This session will be offered, either online or in person, in Michaelmas, Lent and Easter terms. |
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Conference posters are a simple, visual, and effective way of sharing your research. They may be presented at academic or professional conferences, Departmental events, or educational events for the general public. A well-designed poster allows you to communicate information about your work in a concise and appealing manner, and engage with colleagues, peers and others in a conversational setting. Creating a conference poster is a balancing act between including enough detail to effectively describe your work, and keeping it visually attractive and minimal enough that people can understand at least the main points at a glance. This session will help you create effective conference posters and introduce key design principles. |
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| Mon 6 |
Finished your PhD thesis? It’s time to submit. Unsure of your access level options? Confused about any third-party copyright in your thesis? Then this session is for you. The final step after completing your thesis is to deposit an electronic copy into the University’s Repository, Apollo. This training session will cover how to ensure you meet all the requirements for submission, how to decide on the access level for your thesis and finally a demonstration of successfully depositing your work using Symplectic Elements. Please note: This session will be offered, either online or in person, in Michaelmas, Lent and Easter terms. |
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This session discusses the benefits and challenges of maintaining an online presence as a researcher. Part of two sessions on this topic, this second session looks at using social media as a researcher. We will look at the practicalities and pros and cons of online engagement through tools such as Twitter, Mastodon, YouTube and LinkedIn. 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. |
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| Tue 7 |
Medicine: Getting the best results - improving your database searching (for NHS staff only)
Finished
A course specifically for NHS staff. Attendees will learn how to search databases accessed with an Athens login (such as Medline, Embase and Cinahl) effectively and efficiently, to learn how to save searches and references, and to create and maintain a bibliography. All attendees are required to have an NHS Athens login. University of Cambridge staff and students wanting to learn similar material should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching (for University) course instead. UPDATE: Please note that some Medical Library sessions are taught in person, and some are taught online. Please ensure you check the venue details before booking a place. If it is an online session you will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Wed 8 |
Drop in for a chat with a member of the Biological Sciences Libraries Team: We can help you with lots of things including:
If we can't answer your question in the session, we'll take your details and investigate it further for you! |
| Fri 10 |
Medicine: Zotero Q & A
Finished
An introductory session showcasing how to manage your references using Zotero. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Mon 13 |
Finished your PhD thesis? It’s time to submit. Unsure of your access level options? Confused about any third-party copyright in your thesis? Then this session is for you. The final step after completing your thesis is to deposit an electronic copy into the University’s Repository, Apollo. This training session will cover how to ensure you meet all the requirements for submission, how to decide on the access level for your thesis and finally a demonstration of successfully depositing your work using Symplectic Elements. Please note: This session will be offered, either online or in person, in Michaelmas, Lent and Easter terms. |
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Medicine: EndNote Q & A
Finished
An introductory session showcasing how to manage your references using EndNote desktop and EndNote online. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
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| Tue 14 |
Once you have shared your research you need to know about what type of impact it’s having. How many people are reading it (or not) and what does this tell us about our future plans? And should we just rely on numbers anyway? (spoiler alert: nope!). This session offers an introduction to modern metrics as one element of a wider system to measure success. Learn about traditional metrics, newer methods such as Altmetrics and why there is more to impact than just numbers. We will also discuss the move towards the responsible use of metrics and how research active staff at any level can get involved. Learn about which measures really matter and book your place now. |
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This course will help you understand how to critically evaluate medical research articles, with a particular emphasis on evaluating the reliability, trustworthiness, and applicability of an article in informing evidence-based practice and decision-making in a healthcare context. We will send you the article in advance, and it is a prerequisite that you read it before attending the session, and bring a copy with you to class. UPDATE: Please note that some Medical Library sessions are taught in person, and some are taught online. Please ensure you check the venue details before booking a place. If it is an online session you will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
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| Wed 15 |
Drop in for a chat with a member of the Biological Sciences Libraries Team: We can help you with lots of things including:
If we can't answer your question in the session, we'll take your details and investigate it further for you! |
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This course will help you understand how to undertake a risk of bias assessment of a systematic review, assessing its reliability, trustworthiness, and applicability. The session uses the ROBIS tool to assess a preselected published systematic review. We ask that you read a paper that will be provided before you attend the session, in order for us to make the best use of the time together. UPDATE: Please note that some Medical Library sessions are taught in person, and some are taught online. Please ensure you check the venue details before booking a place. If it is an online session you will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
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| Thu 16 |
A course to take you through conference poster design, with tips and resources to help with the content and presentation in order to ensure you communicate your research effectively. The course will cover where to source good quality, free graphics, how to include references in your poster, and advice about how best to present it at a conference. The session will NOT involve hands-on creation of a poster. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Mon 20 |
Before undertaking any piece of primary research it’s important to be aware of as much of the existing literature as possible. A systematic literature review can also be a research end in itself. And it’s not something to be taken lightly. But how can you be sure you’re being as rigorous as necessary? How can you manage the references you find, document the process, and also know when to stop searching? This session assumes attendees have already had prior introductory training in literature searching. It is a prerequisite that you have attended either Introduction to Literature Searching (if you are a University of Cambridge staff member or student) or Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching (if you are an NHS staff member). Exceptions will be made if you received similar training from another department or university - please contact us if you have any questions about prerequisites. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Tue 21 |
A course designed to take you step-by-step through academic writing and publication, with tips and resources to make writing up as simple as possible. The course will demystify the peer-review process, and help you to improve the precision and clarity of your academic writing. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Wed 29 |
Publishing a protocol -- stating in advance the search strategy, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data analysis and other evaluative techniques -- is a core requirement for conducting a systematic review. The process of writing this protocol will also mean you have written in advance a large chunk of what will need to go into the finished systematic review, saving you a huge amount of time. This session will cover the contents and types of information you will need to provide in your protocol, and will give attendees the opportunity to write a draft protocol, as well as highlighting helpful resources and further support. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
April 2023
| Mon 3 |
Medicine: Embase and Medline Q & A
Finished
This session is aimed at NHS and University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of Embase and Medline via the Ovid interface. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff. |
| Tue 4 |
Medicine: PubMed Q & A
Finished
This session is aimed at NHS and University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of PubMed. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff. |
| Tue 18 |
A course specifically for University of Cambridge staff and students. Attendees will learn how to search medical/healthcare databases accessed with a Raven login (such as Medline and Embase) effectively and efficiently, to learn how to save searches and references, and to create and maintain a bibliography. This course is delivered at an introductory/refresher level, and assumes you have had no prior training in how to search databases. All attendees are required to have a Raven login. NHS staff wanting to learn similar material should book onto our 'Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching' course instead. UPDATE: This session is taking place in the Medical Library's training room, not online. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Thu 20 |
A course designed to take you step-by-step through academic writing and publication, with tips and resources to make writing up as simple as possible. The course will demystify the peer-review process, and help you to improve the precision and clarity of your academic writing. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Mon 24 |
Before undertaking any piece of primary research it’s important to be aware of as much of the existing literature as possible. A systematic literature review can also be a research end in itself. And it’s not something to be taken lightly. But how can you be sure you’re being as rigorous as necessary? How can you manage the references you find, document the process, and also know when to stop searching? This session assumes attendees have already had prior introductory training in literature searching. It is a prerequisite that you have attended either Introduction to Literature Searching (if you are a University of Cambridge staff member or student) or Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching (if you are an NHS staff member). Exceptions will be made if you received similar training from another department or university - please contact us if you have any questions about prerequisites. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |
| Tue 25 |
You have your research topic and access to millions of resources – but how do you find relevant material? This session will help you turn your research idea into a comprehensive search strategy designed to get maximum results. It will cover creating targeted keywords, filtering results, evaluating materials and recording your methods to save you time throughout your project. Do something nice for future you and book your place on this session today. |
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There is an increasing emphasis in research on the management and sharing of data. Many funding bodies that support research undertaken at Cambridge require not only open access to any publications based on that research, but also to the data underlying it. This course will help you understand funders’ requirements for management and sharing of research data, and will provide opportunities to create your own data management plan and test out resources that will make the data management process easier. UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely. Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. |