The Library provides dedicated sessions to ensure that Queens’ students have the ability to easily locate and effectively use resources for their research.
Please see our programme for 2023-24 below. If you find you can't attend a research skills session you'd like to go to, please contact the library and we can schedule a 1-2-1 session to assist you, or provide quick assistance in person or by email whenever you need.
Undergraduates
Library Induction –
Thursday 5th October (Erasmus Room) and Friday 6th October (Munro Room)
You will be informed of your induction time by email; please get in touch to rearrange if there is a clash
A brief welcome session for all new undergraduate students to demonstrate how to use your college library, with a chance to visit the Old Library. Students can request an individual induction at a separate time if that is preferred.
Essential literature searching for first years –
Monday 6th November and Monday 29th January, 13.30 and 17.30 (DD47)
Complete your progression from A-level to degree by honing your ability to locate, evaluate, and organise essential information in your subject area. Intended for students in their first year of navigating their subjects at university level. This session will cover:
- Effective use of Google Scholar and Google Books to find and evaluate essential information when tackling your essay question
- The capabilities of iDiscover
- Searching beyond Google using databases in your subject area
- What is Jstor? Using online journal databases effectively
- Finding and using ebooks effectively
- Introduction to organising and building bibliographies using the free Zotero software (brief demo)
Essential literature searching skills for 2nd/3rd/4th year dissertation projects –
Tuesday 7th November and Tuesday 30th January, 13.30 and 17.30 (DD47)
These workshops will provide invaluable tips and strategies to enable you to locate and evaluate sources relevant to your project. Areas to be covered include:
- Using Google Scholar and Google Books effectively
- Locating and using online databases specific to your subject area
- Using Jstor and other online journal databases for research
- Online access to newspapers, dissertations, images, ebooks, etc.
- Introduction to organising and building bibliographies using the free Zotero software (brief demo).
Referencing drop-in workshop (with an introduction to Zotero) –
[TBC]
When do you use et al.? Do you need to put an attribution here, or is it common knowledge? How do you cite a website, film, or podcast? Bring all your referencing queries and quibbles to our referencing workshop and leave the with the answers. We'll begin with a group demonstration of the reference management software, Zotero, then the library team will be on hand to address specific referencing questions. Feel free to drop-in and drop-out at any time during the hour, and remember that you can always ask a librarian for further help with referencing or Zotero at any time.
Graduates
Library Induction –
Monday 2nd October - Thursday 5th October, 11.00 and 14.00 (War Memorial Library)
A brief welcome session for all new graduate students to introduce the services and collections on offer at Queens' and the university. Students can request an individual induction at a separate time if that is preferred.
Advanced literature searching for graduates –
Wednesday 8th November and Wednesday 31st January, 13.30 and 17.30 (DD47)
Google Scholar, Web of Knowledge, Scopus - you may have been introduced to these online databases but learning how to make the most of them can be challenging. This in-depth workshop, led by Dr Tim Eggington (Fellow Librarian), will show you how to do ‘advanced searching’ (beyond Author / Title / Keyword) and explain the secrets and joys of citation searching, the h-index, and ‘impact factor’. It will be useful to all who need to explore their topic independently and evaluate resources.
Building and organising bibliographies with Zotero –
Tuesday 7th November and Tuesday 30th January, 13.30 and 17.30 (DD48)
There are better and faster ways to build and organize a stellar bibliography besides typing it up by hand every time! This workshop will be an interactive introduction to using the free online bibliographic management system, Zotero. Harry Bartholomew (Reader Services Librarian) and Emma Sibbald (Graduate Trainee Librarian) will cover how to implement and master Zotero, saving you from hours upon hours of reference hunting, re-typing references, and essay stress. If you have any specific referencing questions, please bring them to the session.
All students
Introduction to Old Library collections –
Monday 13th November and Monday 22nd January, 9.30 and 17.00 (Old Library / Munro Room)
Would you be interested in knowing more about Queens' Old Library and its fabulous collections of 15th-18th century books? If so, regardless of whether your interest is born of general curiosity or study-related, do come along to this workshop. No prior knowledge required. The first part of the workshop will consist in a tour of Queens’ Old Library with a short talk on its history. During the second part we will examine books from the 15th-18th centuries from Queens’ historic collections to discover how an awareness of book production techniques and signs of use left by readers helps us to realise the historical and intellectual interest inherent in our early printed books. In the course of examining some fine publications of the early modern era, we will consider a range of aspects including typography, bindings, provenances, and annotations made by former owners. For more information on Queens' College Old Library please see the Old Library website: http://www.queensoldlibrary.org/.