Research Tools for Graduate Students Workshop Series: Upcoming Workshops

Monday, January 27, 2:30-3:45 pm, Zoom 

Instructor: Lisa Becksford Russell

You’ve been assigned to write a literature review in the social sciences...but how do you get started? What kinds of literature reviews are there? Where should you search? How do you know what search terms to use? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this session. By the end of this session, you’ll be able to 

• Identify different types of literature reviews

• Find relevant databases

• Create effective search terms 

This workshop will focus on research in the social and behavioral sciences, such as education, communication, human development, psychology, and sociology. Sessions on other disciplines are also offered in this series; see the other options listed on this page. 

Register for the session here.  

Wednesday, January 29, 2:30-3:30 pm, Zoom

Instructor: Dr. Jon Petters 

You're about to collect or already have data for your research project...now what? How do you manage it? What do you name the files? How do you share it? Learn the answers to all of these questions and more in this workshop, which will present an introduction to research data management, including the following topics: 

• Data management planning

• File naming conventions/organization

• Backing-up research data

• Documentation (metadata)

• Data sharing

• Data security 

• How the library can help 

Register for the session here.  

Tuesday, February 4, 3:30-4:30 pm

Instructor: Dr. Sarah Over

You need to write a literature review for your research or project... but how do you get started? What type of review do you need? What about AI tools to save time? We will go through the answers to these questions and more in the workshop!

By the end of the workshop, you will learn how to:

• Get started on your own literature review
• Be effective and efficient in searching engineering literature
• Use tools to help you throughout the process

Whether you are new to literature reviews or even outside of engineering, all are welcome to attend this workshop!

Register for the session here.

Tuesday, February 11, 3:30-4:45 pm, Zoom 

Instructor: Kiri DeBose

You’ve been assigned to write a literature review...but how do you get started? What kinds of literature reviews are there? Where should you search? How do you know what search terms to use? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this interactive workshop. By the end of this session, you’ll be able to 

• Identify the type of literature review to be conducted
• Find relevant databases to search in the life sciences
• Create effective search strategies

This workshop will focus on research in the life sciences. Other discipline-specific workshops will be offered; see other options above.

Register for the session here. 

Tuesday, February 18, 2-3:30 pm

Instructor: Dr. Sarah Over

Come learn how to get started with this popular coding tool for writing technical papers! LaTeX (pronounced Lay-tech or Lah-tech) is a free typesetting system designed for technical publications that can be used for many writing projects.

Be ready to code along with the instructor during this interactive workshop while you learn:

• How to create your first article
• How to add content including text, figures and citations
• Where to learn more about using LaTeX
• How to get the most out of Overleaf

Participants are encouraged to sign up for an Overleaf account prior to the workshop using their VT email address. All are welcome to attend no matter your field or LaTeX experience level!

Register for the session here.

Monday, March 3, 2:30-4:00 pm

Instructor: Dr. Sarah Over

Looking for a different platform besides Word or Google for your thesis or dissertation? Or do you want to go beyond the basics in LaTeX? Come learn more about working with LaTeX in Overleaf for larger projects!

Be ready to code along with the instructor during this interactive workshop while you learn:

• Setup and structure of large projects with multiple .tex files
• How to create advanced float objects like subfigures
• Efficient use of citation managers with LaTeX
• Options for collaboration

Experience with LaTeX or other coding experience is highly recommended for this workshop. Learners should have a citation manager (EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero, etc.) installed prior to the workshop with some references added. Although we will be using Overleaf, you are welcome to use your preferred LaTeX distribution.

Register for the session here.

Tuesday, January 28, 3:30-4:30 pm, Zoom 

Instructor: Dr. Sarah Over

This workshop is for anyone, whether you have never used an AI tool before or use them daily! Are you curious about AI tools designed for researchers? Or just want to learn about options available to enhance your work processes? Come and learn about AI tools intended for researchers to help you with topic development, literature reviews, and more. You will also learn about requirements for AI when used for published research. 

By the end of the workshop, you will learn how to: 

• Find AI tools designed for research/academic applications
• Use AI tools to enhance literature discovery 
• Find publisher guidelines for using AI in your research 

Attendees are encouraged to sign up for Consensus (consensus.app) with their VT email address before the workshop as we will be diving into ths AI tool during the workshop. 

Note: this workshop will not cover AI tools used for managing and analyzing data or similar - ask your advisor or department expert! Also check out TLOS's self-paced introduction to GenAI: https://profdev.tlos.vt.edu/courses/introduction-to-gen-ai

Register for the session here. 

Monday, February 3, 4-5:15 pm, Zoom 

Instructor: Lisa Becksford Russell

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use citation manager that can help researchers save time and frustration. In this workshop, you will learn the basics of Zotero, including adding references to your library, organizing your library, and using Zotero to cite references within a document (both Word and Google Docs). To get the most out of the session, you should have Zotero downloaded to your computer already. Information on how to download the software is available at guides.lib.vt.edu/citationmanagers/Zotero.

Register for the session here. 

Monday, February 10, 4-5:15 pm, Zoom 

Instructor: Lisa Becksford Russell

Mendeley is a free, easy-to-use citation manager that can help researchers save time and frustration. In this interactive workshop, you will learn the basics of Mendeley, including adding references to your library, organizing your library, and using Mendeley to cite references within a document. To get the most out of the session, you should have Mendeley downloaded to your computer already.. Information on how to download the software is available at guides.lib.vt.edu/citationmanagers/Mendeley.

Register for the session here.  

Monday, February 17, 2:30-3:45 pm, Zoom 

Instructor: Lisa Becksford Russell

EndNote is one of the most powerful citation managers available today. In this workshop, you will learn the basics of EndNote, including adding references to your library, organizing your library, and using EndNote to cite references within a document. To get the most out of the session, you should have the most recent version of EndNote (21) already downloaded from VT Software Distribution. More information and a link to download it is available at guides.lib.vt.edu/citationmanagers/EndNote. 

Register for the session here.  

Monday, February 24, 4-5:15 pm, Zoom

Instructor: Lisa Becksford Russell

Citation managers like EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero are powerful tools that can help you save, organize, and cite your references. Their use can also help improve your workflow and make the research process easier and less stressful. This session will focus on ways to get the most out of your citation manager. By the end of the session, you’ll be able to

• Integrate citation managers into your existing workflow 

• Identify personal best practices for using citation managers 

• Use advanced features of the citation manager of your choice to streamline your research workflow

This session will assume that you are already using and are familiar with a citation manager like EndNote, Zotero, and Mendeley. If you’re not, you should familiarize yourself with a citation manager by signing up for one of the introductory sessions in this series or via one of the tutorials on this guide: https://guides.lib.vt.edu/citationmanagers

Register for the session here. 

Tuesday, February 25, 3:30-4:45 pm, Zoom

Instructor: Rachel Miles

As an early-career academic, graduate students have many expectations and pressures, such as publishing and developing a professional presence in academia. In this workshop, participants will discover online platforms, tools, and databases to refine their selections for publishing venues as well as how to best evaluate journals, books, and publishers for publication. In addition, participants will be able to distinguish between different academic profile systems and demonstrate the value and advantages of each, so that they can develop a more robust professional and academic presence. Participants will also be able to connect their profiles together for ease of data entry. Open Access (OA) will be highlighted throughout the workshop, such as how to choose an ideal OA journal or publisher and how to legally deposit a manuscript OA and link it to their profile for maximum online visibility. 

Register for the session here.