Research Tools for Graduate Students Workshop Series: Upcoming Workshops

Monday, August 31, 4-5 pm, Zoom 

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 

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Lisa Becksford at lisab5@vt.edu at least 10 business days prior to the workshop. 

This session will be offered live via Zoom and will be recorded and sent out afterwards to all who register. While we encourage attendance during the live virtual session so that you can interact with the presenter and ask questions, you're welcome to sign up for the session to receive the recording of it afterwards even if you can't attend it live. 

Sign up for the session here. 

Monday, September 14, 4-5 pm, Zoom 

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.

This session will be offered live via Zoom and will be recorded and sent out afterwards to all who register. While we encourage attendance during the live virtual session so that you can interact with the instructor and ask questions, you're welcome to sign up for the session to receive the recording of it afterwards even if you can't attend it live. 

Sign up for the session here. 

Tuesday, September 22, 3:30-4:30 pm, Zoom 

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.

This session will be offered live via Zoom and will be recorded and sent out afterwards to all who register. While we encourage attendance during the live virtual session so that you can interact with the instructor and ask questions, you're welcome to sign up for the session to receive the recording of it afterwards even if you can't attend it live. 

Sign up for the session here. 

Wednesday, September 30, 4-5 pm, Zoom 

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 (X9) already downloaded from VT Software Distribution. More information and a link to download it is available at guides.lib.vt.edu/citationmanagers/EndNote. 

This session will be offered live via Zoom and will be recorded and sent out afterwards to all who register. While we encourage attendance during the live virtual session so that you can interact with the instructor and ask questions, you're welcome to sign up for the session to receive the recording of it afterwards even if you can't attend it live. 

Sign up for the session here. 

Wednesday, September 9, 4:00-5:00 pm, Zoom 

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 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. 

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Lisa Becksford at lisab5@vt.edu at least 10 business days prior to the workshop. 

This session will be offered live via Zoom and will be recorded and sent out afterwards to all who register. While we encourage attendance during the live virtual session so that you can interact with the presenter and ask questions, you're welcome to sign up for the session to receive the recording of it afterwards even if you can't attend it live. 

Sign up for the session here.

Monday, September 21, 4-5 pm, Zoom 

LinkedIn, ORCID, ResearcherID, ResearchGate, Google Scholar Profile...how do you choose which sites you should create professional and scholarly profiles for? This workshop will provide an introduction to creating an online scholarly presence. Learn how to create and maintain your unique author identifier to ensure you get credit for your work, link your profiles together for ease of use, and track research impact metrics and online engagement of your research.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Lisa Becksford at lisab5@vt.edu at least 10 business days prior to the workshop. 

This session will be offered live via Zoom and will be recorded and sent out afterwards to all who register. While we encourage attendance during the live virtual session so that you can interact with the instructor and ask questions, you're welcome to sign up for the session to receive the recording of it afterwards even if you can't attend it live. 

Sign up for the session here. 



Tuesday, September 29, 3:30-4:30 pm, Zoom

You’ve probably heard of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and perhaps even the h-index. You know that citations are important to a scholar’s career and impact. However, there are many purposes and interpretations of these metrics, and deciphering their meaning can be a headache if you don’t have a general understanding of research impact metrics and research assessment. In this workshop, you will learn the differences between the many types of citation metrics, usage statistics, and altmetrics. You’ll learn where to find them, how to use them to your advantage, and how to avoid making common mistakes and/or unintentionally misusing these metrics. 

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Lisa Becksford at lisab5@vt.edu at least 10 business days prior to the workshop. 

This session will be offered live via Zoom and will be recorded and sent out afterwards to all who register. While we encourage attendance during the live virtual session so that you can interact with the instructor and ask questions, you're welcome to sign up for the session to receive the recording of it afterwards even if you can't attend it live. 

Sign up for the session here. 

Monday, October 5, 4-5 pm, Zoom

You’ve published an article...now what? How do you share your scholarly work with others online? This workshop will cover best practices for scholars to promote their work online. Learn how to use the emerging science communication tool, Grow Kudos, to write nontechnical titles and summaries of your research in order to engage broader audiences; learn how to effectively use Twitter and other social media channels to promote your work; and finally, learn how to track usage statistics and metrics to assess and improve your promotional efforts.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Lisa Becksford at lisab5@vt.edu at least 10 business days prior to the workshop. 

This session will be offered live via Zoom and will be recorded and sent out afterwards to all who register. While we encourage attendance during the live virtual session so that you can interact with the instructor and ask questions, you're welcome to sign up for the session to receive the recording of it afterwards even if you can't attend it live. 

Sign up for the session here.