Research Tools for Graduate Students Workshop Series: Past Workshops and Resources

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

Instructor: Lisa Becksford Russell

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 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. 

View the recording of the session here.

View the slides used in the session here. 

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

Instructor: 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 

View the recording of the workshop here. 

Files from the session, including presentation slides, are available here (requires VT login). 

Tuesday, February 4, 3:30-4:30 pm

Instructor: Sarah Over

You need to write a literature review for your research or class... but how do you get started? What kinds of literature reviews are there? Where should you search? How do you search efficiently and effectively? 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 engineering and related databases

• Create effective searches

This workshop will focus on research in engineering, including computer science. Participants from other disciplines are welcome, but should be aware of the disciplinary focus of this workshop.

View the recording of the session here. (no slides were used)

Engineering Literature Review Planning Handout 

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.

View the recording of the session here.

Slides from the session are available 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. 

View the recording from the session here. 

View slides here. 

Monday, March 3, 2:30-3:45 pm

Instructor: 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!

In the workshop we’ll cover:

• Setup and structure of large projects with multiple .tex files

• Using citation managers with LaTeX

• Creating your own commands

• Options for collaboration

Experience with LaTeX or other coding experience is highly recommended for this workshop. Students should use their own laptops and have a citation manager (EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero, etc.) installed. Although we will be using Overleaf, you are welcome to use your preferred LaTeX distribution.

View the recording from the session here. 

View workshop materials 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

View the recording of 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.

View the recording of the session here (please note that due to an issue with the live workshop, the recording is of last semester's session). 

View the slides from the session (containing step by step screenshots) here. 

Monday, February 10, 4:00-5:15 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.

View the recording of the session here. 

View the slides from the session (with step by step screenshots) 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. More information and a link to download EndNote 21 is available at guides.lib.vt.edu/citationmanagers/EndNote. 

View the recording of the session here. 

View slides (with step-by-step screenshots) here. 

Tuesday, February 18, 2-3:30 pm

Instructor: 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.

In the workshop we’ll cover:

• 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

All are welcome to attend no matter your field or LaTeX experience level. 

View the recording of the workshop here. 

View materials from the workshop here. 

Monday, February 24, 4-5 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 incorporate citation managers into your workflow. 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 via one of the tutorials on this guide: https://guides.lib.vt.edu/citationmanagers

View the recording of the session here. 

Slides from the session are available here.