Universal Access
Research Tools for Graduate Students is a free virtual workshop series offered by the University Libraries in both fall and spring semesters. Sessions are designed for graduate students, but undergraduates and faculty/staff are welcome to attend as well. Workshops cover a variety of topics related to graduate-level research. Check out our upcoming workshops below, and find materials from previous workshops on the "Past Workshops and Resources" page.
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:
Whether you are new to literature reviews or even outside of engineering, all are welcome to attend this workshop!
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.
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 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:
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
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:
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!
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.
As early-career academics, 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.
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:
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.
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, October 14, 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
This workshop will focus on research in the life sciences. Other discipline-specific workshops will be offered; see other options above.
