Network downtime Sunday 30th AM

Due to essential maintenance there will be a network outage to the building on Sunday morning (30th April). This means that there will be no wifi, PCs, PCAS etc until lunchtime that day. Apologies for the inconvenience; everything should be up and running again as normal for the afternoon.

iSkills coming up: Research data; Getting started; Your thesis, copyright & ORA; Moving from research question to literature review; Google for academic research

iSkills logoWe kick off Trinity Term with five iSkills workshops in Week 1. Please follow links to book online for these FREE workshops:

Bodleian iSkills: Managing Social Science Research data (Tuesday 25 April 10.00-12.00)
Good research data management is a vital component of academic practice. Part of this is the principle that the data used to develop the arguments and outcomes of your research should where possible be effectively stored, preserved and usable. This session introduces the University’s research data policy and outlines the practical impact this will have on the work of researchers. Some of the tools in preparation to meet the requirements will be outlined as well as services that are already available. Main subjects will include: common dangers and pitfalls of digital data; effective organisation of your data; getting the most from your data and producing a data management plan; data creation and funder requirements; preserving data; embargoes and access restrictions; Oxford based tools for research data management (RDM). This session is not only essential during your DPhil but will be invaluable if you plan to continue in the field of research as a career.
Who is this session for? All DPhil Students and Research Staff in the Social Sciences
Presenters: John Southall and Cathy Scutt

Bodleian iSkills: Getting started in Oxford Libraries (Wed 26 Apr 09.30-12.30)
An introduction to Oxford Libraries including guidance on which libraries to use; accessing e-journals and other online resources; SOLO and other finding aids and making the most of Library services.
Who is this session for? Anyone who would like an introduction to Oxford Libraries.
Presenters: Angela Carritt and Cathy Scutt

Bodleian iSkills: Your thesis, copyright and ORA (Wed 26 Apr 14.00-15.00)
Oxford DPhil students are required to deposit a copy of their thesis in ORA (Oxford University Research Archive). This session will focus on copyright and other issues that DPhil students need to take into account when preparing their thesis for upload to ORA.
Who is this session for? Doctoral research students
Presenters: Jason Partridge and David Watson

Bodleian iSkills: Moving from research question to literature review in the Social Sciences (Thu 27 Apr 10.00-12.00)
This 2-hour workshop will be invaluable for researchers hoping to find suitable literature for their literature review, for which a well-constructed set of search terms and an understanding of online search engines are prerequisites. This workshop will allow researchers to use their own research questions to build a search and apply it to a range of databases. Techniques for structuring a search will be explained, an overview of key online resources for the social sciences will be given , major search tools will be explored, and strategies for approaching large results sets and sourcing papers will be discussed. This practical workshop will involve paper exercises and online activities using attendees own research topics.
Who is this session for? All DPhil Students and Research Staff in the Social Sciences
Presenters: Craig Finlay and Helen Worrell

Bodleian iSkills: Google for academic research (Thu 27 Apr 14.00-16.00)
Google is often dismissed as being irrelevant to the academic literature search. However, changes to the nature of the dissemination of scholarly research and official information in recent years mean that a wealth of relevant information can be accessed via standard Internet search engines such as Google. Too often however such information is lost amongst thousands of irrelevant, spurious and misleading results. Based on an understanding of how the Google search engine works this practical workshop will show you the basic techniques to quickly filter out high quality academic material from Google searches. Given concerns about the privacy costs of a ‘free’ search within search engines such as Google, alternative search engines will also be explored and compared, including DuckDuckGo.
Who is this session for? All DPhils and Research Students in the Social Sciences
Presenter: Cathy Scutt

In addition in Weeks 1-8 we are running weekly drop-in sessions to provide face-to-face support and answer all your queries on Open Access, Act on Acceptance and ORA

  • Tuesdays 14.30-15.30 –Knowledge Centre Library, Churchill Hospital, ask for Judith Ames
  • Wednesdays 14.00-15.00 – Social Science Library, ask for Kate Beeby
  • Thursdays 11.00-12.00 – Radcliffe Science Library, ask for Juliet Ralph
  • Fridays 14.00-15.00 – Radcliffe Humanities Building, ask for Hilla Wait.