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

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 

View the recording of the workshop here. 

Files from the session, including presentation slides, are available 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.

View the recording of the session here. 

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

View the recording of the session here. 

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

Wednesday, September 9, 4-5 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. 

View the recording of the session here. 

View the slides used in 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.

View the recording of the session here. 

View the slides from the session here.