Bodleian iSkills workshops aim to develop your skills in information discovery and scholarly communications, covering a variety of resources across a wide range of disciplines. They are primarily aimed at University of Oxford students and staff. Some workshops take place face-to-face, whilst others are run online.
The workshops are FREE but online booking is essential. A list of the sessions taking place this term can be found on the iSkills Workshops webpage.
Monday 3 March – Thursday 13 March 2025
The Oxford Forum of Open Scholarship (OxFOS 2025)
What in the world is going on with open access and open research?
Organised by the Bodleian Libraries the Oxford Forum of Open Scholarship (OxFOS) is a programme of talks, panels, workshops and events. Every event is free to attend and open to all. Events will be a combination of online and in person in Oxford. The full programme and registration links are below.
This year we are delighted to welcome Chris Smith, Executive Chair of AHRC; Alex Freeman, of Octopus.ac scientific publishing; Sally Rumsey, formerly OA expert at Jisc; Beth Montague-Hellen, Head of Information Services, Francis Crick Institute; Brian Nosek, founder of the Open Science Framework; and John Willinsky, founder of the Public Knowledge Project, among many, many others.
Registration is now open at: https://openaccess.ox.ac.uk/oxfos25
Monday 3rd March 2025 10:00-11:00
Open Scholarship: Fundamentals of open access
Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open.
- What is open access? Key terms – Gold, Green, Article Processing Charges
- Where to get more information and help
- Where to look for open access material
- Useful tools to assist you in publishing open access
Format: Online presentation with time to get answers to your questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Monday 3rd March 2025 10:00-11:30
iSkills for Medicine: Searching systematically
This 90-minute session will cover some more advanced techniques for finding medical literature to answer a research question. We will recap some basics, then demonstrate searching in several medical databases, including using subject headings (MeSH) and the differences between different platforms. By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Explain what subject headings are, and how to use them
- Search for words that appear near to other words
- Take a search from one database into another
- Save a search and document it
Format: Online teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Monday 3rd March 2025 14:00-16:30
iSkills: Using AI to find, analyse, and share information sources
Curious about using AI to find research papers? Not sure how to properly reference GenAI and avoid plagiarism? This beginner-friendly workshop introduces three GenAI tools (ChatGPT, Elicit, and Perplexity), showing how they can support information discovery and analysis. Designed for those new to AI, this practical session will allow you to independently experiment with these tools and participate in group discussions to explore their strengths, limitations, and suitability for different tasks. By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Explain what AI means and some key terms
- Differentiate between several categories of AI tools
- Describe how some GenAI tools can be used to discover information, including their strengths, limitations, and best practices
- Critique GenAI tools and their outputs at an introductory level using evaluative criteria
- State the University’s policies on AI, and avoid plagiarism by creating citations for AI-generated content
Format: Classroom-based. Presentation with practical exercises, group discussions, and an opportunity for questions and answers at the end of the session.
Location: IT Services, 7-19 Banbury Road, Oxon, OX2 6NN
Monday 3rd March 2025 14:00-15:00
Are you looking to learn about the ways in which to transmit scientific ideas and make your research accessible to a non-specialist audience through a variety of mediums? This session will serve as an introduction to science communication and how it can be successfully incorporated into our roles. By the end of this session you will be able to:
- define science communication and provide a list of examples;
- explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public;
- list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication.
Format: Online teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Tuesday 4th March 2025 10:00-11:30
Open Scholarship: Foundations of copyright for researchers
This workshop will cover the basics of copyright as they apply to researchers at the University of Oxford. It will explain the different types of copyright work that are used or generated in research and the rights and responsibilities for researchers and academic authors in an age of increasingly open scholarship.
We will discuss the practical implications of copyright law on the publication process, as well as the production and sharing of research data. This will include the licensing of research outputs and data and the use of open licences such as Creative Commons. We will also cover ownership of copyright, author agreements with publishers and the benefits of signing up to the University of Oxford rights retention pilot.
Finally, the session will cover the use of copyright content owned by others as part of the research process. This will involve looking at the role of rights clearance, copyright exceptions, due diligence and risk management in common research scenarios.
Format: Online presentation with opportunities to share experiences and for questions and answers
Location: Microsoft Teams
Tuesday 4th March 2025 10:00-11:00
In this 60-minute online workshop you will be introduced to the methodologies and principles underpinning the conduct of literature searches for systematic reviews, scoping reviews and other evidence reviews. The session will cover:
- Formulating a focused research question
- Preparing a protocol
- Developing a search strategy to address that research question
- Choosing appropriate databases and search engines
- Searching for grey literature and ongoing studies
- Storing and managing references
- Documenting and reporting your search
Please note, there won’t be an opportunity to search different databases during this session. For practical help on searching databases, please have a look at the search skills tutorials or check the iSkills course listing for the Searching Systematically workshop.
Format: Online teacher-led presentations with opportunities for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Tuesday 4th March 2025 13:00-14:00
iSkills for Medicine: Introduction to RefWorks
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of RefWorks. RefWorks is a subscription software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies that University of Oxford members can use for free during their time at the university and as alumni. The workshop will cover:
- Understanding the main features and benefits of RefWorks
- Setting up a RefWorks account
- Organising your references in RefWorks
- Inserting citations into documents
- Creating a bibliography/reference list
Format: Online presentation and demonstration with time for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Wednesday 5th March 2025 10:30-11:30
Open Scholarship: Open monographs
Open access publication of monographs and other longform works is an emerging movement, offering many opportunities to scholars looking to publish their research. With several major funding agencies now requiring longform open access publication, the impact of this is only set to grow. However, for those looking to publish their monograph open access, the novelty of this can present a challenge. What do funders require? What are the different publishing models? This webinar will cover the basics of this emerging field, including benefits, funder requirements, publication models and tools and resources. At the end of the session participants will be able to:
- Explore the benefits of open access publication for longform works.
- Consider the more challenging aspects of open monograph publication that that may not arise in traditional monograph publishing.
- Follow the open access requirements of major funders for longform works.
- Understand the range of open access publication models offered by publishers.
Format: A presentation with opportunities for questions and answers, as well as opportunities to share experiences.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Thursday 6th March 2025 10:00-11:30
Open Scholarship: ORCIDs from scratch
ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a researcher-controlled persistent identifier that is being adopted by publishers, funders and other scholarly communications infrastructures. Its primary goal is to ensure that research outputs can be attributed correctly and unambiguously in the digital world. This workshop will begin with a presentation that explains what an ORCID is, how it works and how it fits in with the broader use of persistent identifiers (PIDs) in the academic sphere. This will be followed by a hands-on session where we will take you through the process of acquiring an ORCID, linking it to your Oxford Single Sign On (SSO) and updating your ORCID record with publications or other material.
Format: Online presentation and demonstration with time for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Thursday 6th March 2025 14:30-16:00
Are you looking for a streamlined approach to gathering, managing and citing your references? Join us for this interactive online session in which we introduce Zotero, a reference management tool that helps you to collect and manage references and insert them into your word-processor document as in-text citations or footnotes, as well as generating bibliographies. The demonstration will be on Windows although Zotero is also available for Mac and Linux. By the end of the session, you will understand:
- How Zotero can help you
- How to add references to Zotero from a range of sources
- How to manage your references
- How to add in-text citations and/or footnotes to your documents
- How to create bibliographies
- Where to get help with Zotero
Please note that, whilst this session is mostly aimed at beginners, there will be a chance at the end to ask more specific questions about how to use Zotero.
Format: Live online session with a mixture of PowerPoint presentation and practical exercises.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Friday 7th March 2025 10:00-11:30
iSkills: Managing research data and Data Management Planning (DMPs)
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 be effectively stored and managed during a project, preserved for the future and – where possible – shared with other academics. This session introduces the University’s research data policy and outlines the practical impact this will have on your work. The services available at Oxford to assist you will be outlined. This session is not only essential during your current studies but will be invaluable if you plan to continue in research as a career. Topics to be covered include:
- Common dangers and pitfalls of digital data
- Key principles of RDM and organising your data effectively
- Producing a data management plan
- Institutional, funder and publisher requirements
- Issues around preserving data and cybersecurity
- ORA-Data, GitHub and other preservation services
- Sharing thoughts and insights about the potential of data management in your own field
- Accessing Oxford based tools for research data management
Format: Online teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Friday 7th March 2025 13:30-16:30
A practical session 180-minute workshop where participants will work on searches for their review across multiple databases. Librarians from the Bodleian Health Care Libraries will be on hand to demonstrate online tools for facilitating the process and give practical advice on refining individual search strategies. By the end of this classroom-based session you will be able to:
- Improve a search strategy that you are working on
- Adapt the search across multiple databases
- Use tools such as Yale MeSH Analyzer, Polyglot and the SR Accelerator to improve your searches
- Describe alternative methods for identifying references, including citation tracking
- De-duplicate results from multiple database searches
- Start screening results for inclusion in your review
- Report your search methods according to PRISMA-Search
Format: Classroom-based. Time for participants to work on their own searches with advice from a librarian. Explore tools that streamline the review process following a presentation with demonstrations.
Location: Beeson Room, Cairns Library, John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU