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 10th February 2025 14:00-16:00
iSkills: Scholarly literature for your research
In this online interactive workshop, you will learn how to create an effective search query and have the opportunity to try out a range of tools that you can use to search for scholarly materials to support your research. You will:
- learn how to find books and other scholarly items in Oxford libraries using SOLO
- search for journal articles using subject databases and scholarly search engines
- be signposted towards learning materials you can use if you are interested in searching for conference proceedings, theses and dissertations.
Format: Interactive teacher-led online session
Location: Microsoft Teams
Monday 10th February 2025 14:00-15:00
iSkills for Medicine: An introduction to designing a conference poster
Are you planning to present a poster at an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This introductory session will provide you with some top tips on how to create a poster presentation which will help you to communicate your research project and data effectively. There will be guidance on formatting, layout, content, use of text, references and images, as well as advice on printing and presenting your poster. This session will also provide help with locating resources such as templates, free-to-use images and poster guidelines. By the end of this classroom-based session you will be able to:
- evaluate the effectiveness of templates, formatting, text and images;
- plan, prepare and present your poster.
Format: Teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions.
Location: Beeson Room, Cairns Library, John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU
Tuesday 11th February 2025 10:00-12:00
iSkills: Data sources for research – discovery, access and use
Modern researchers need to have an up-to-date understanding of working with research data. This relates equally to the material they create themselves and that obtained from other sources. Academic institutions, funding bodies and even publishers are now expecting competence in these issues. This workshop will provide a grounding in the different ways quantitative and qualitative data is being made available to benefit researchers. By the end of the session you will also have some insight into how your own future work could add to the process and become part of the research discourse. The course aims to provide an overview of macro and micro data sources available at the University of Oxford, including national data archives, subscription services, business data, and offers some pointers for further searching. Topics to be covered include:
- Overview of the landscape of data sources for health researchers, social scientists and most other researchers
- How to obtain macro and micro data via specific sources
- Qualitative and quantitative data resources
- Additional data services such as the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), Eurostat, Researchfish and the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative’s online interactive databank and global Multidimensional Poverty Index; plus specialist sources for business and economic data subscribed to by Oxford University
- The value of resources for informing research design and methodological innovation
- The importance of data management and cybersecurity
Format: Classroom-based. Presentation with discussion.
Location: Social Science Library, Information Skills Training Room, Manor Road, OX1 3UQ
Tuesday 11th February 2025 10:00-11:30
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
Tuesday 11th February 2025 10:00-11:00
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: Teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions
Location: Knowledge Centre Group Study Room, Ground Floor, Old Road Campus Research Building, Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxon, OX3 7DQ
Tuesday 11th February 2025 13:00-14:00
iSkills: Research metrics and citation analysis tools: Part 2 article metrics
In this session we will examine article level metrics. We will discuss how citation counting can help identify influential papers in particular fields and how altmetrics provide a different perspective on research output. Using tools such as Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus you will learn how to locate different article metrics. The session will also allow you to appreciate the limitations of different metrics and the importance of their cautious interpretation. By the end of the session, you will be familiar with:
- Using Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar to track and count citations to papers and individual researchers
- Measuring impact using altmetrics
- Understanding how to contextualise metrics against other, similar papers in a field
- The limitations of different metrics
Format: Classroom-based. Presentation with practical exercises.
Location: Radcliffe Science Library, Seminar Room, Parks Road, OX2 3QP
Tuesday 11th February 2025 14:30-16:30
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 RefWorks, a subscription reference management tool that University of Oxford members can use for free during their time at the university and as alumni. RefWorks is web-based and helps you to collect and manage references and insert them into your word-processed document as in-text citations or footnotes, and you can generate bibliographies. Being web-based, RefWorks can be used with any operating system and, to cite your references in a document, provides a plugin for Microsoft Word on Windows or Mac computers. By the end of the session, you will understand:
- How RefWorks can help you
- How to add references to RefWorks 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 RefWorks
Format: Live online session with a mixture of PowerPoint presentation, live demonstration and practical exercises.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Wednesday 12th February 2025 10:30-11:30
iSkills for Medicine: Literature searching – getting started
Puzzled by PICO? Daunted by databases? Baffled by Boolean? This one-hour introductory class will offer top tips and advice on how to find literature to answer a research question. No prior experience necessary! Together, we will break down a question into the PICO format, put together a structured search, and try it out in PubMed. By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Explain what structured searching is, and when to use it
- Break your research question down into searchable concepts
- Make use of Boolean operators (ANDs/ORs) in your structured searches
Format: Teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions.
Location: Radcliffe Science Library, Seminar Room, Parks Road, OX2 3QP
Wednesday 12th February 2025 15:00-16:00
Open Scholarship: REF open access policy briefing
Do you want to make sure your work is ‘REFable’ per the new REF open access requirements? In this focused online briefing, we will:
- step you through the changes and new requirements
- provide links to further REF information and guidance
- let you know where to find help at Oxford
- answer as many questions as we can
Format: Online presentation and demonstration with plenty of time for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Thursday 13th February 2025 10:00-11:30
Open Scholarship: Playing in the open: Getting familiar with Creative Commons licences
Create content for your teaching or research with greater confidence by attending our session on Creative Commons (CC) licences. Learn how they work, how they interact with copyright and how to use them to best effect. The session will make special reference to images but is applicable to all media, including written works. The workshop is classroom-based. In this playful, interactive face-to-face session we will cover:
- What Creative Commons Licences are
- Where to find Creative Commons material
- How to apply Creative Commons to your own work
- How to reuse Creative Commons materials
And we’ll finish the session with a Creative Commons card game.
Format: Classroom-based with an interactive presentation and game elements to reinforce learning.
Location: Radcliffe Science Library, Seminar Room, Parks Road, OX2 3QP
Thursday 13th February 2025 12:30-14:00
iSkills for Medicine: Introduction to Zotero
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of Zotero, which is a free-to-use software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies. Zotero will be demonstrated on a Windows PC but users of MacOS or Linux computers will be able to follow the demonstration. The workshop will cover:
- Understanding the main features and benefits of Zotero
- Setting up a Zotero account
- Importing references from different sources into Zotero
- Organising your references in Zotero
- Inserting citations into documents
- Creating a bibliography/reference list
Format: Online demonstration with time for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Thursday 13th February 2025 15:30-17:00
iSkills for Medicine: Introduction to EndNote
Do you need help managing your references? Do you need help citing references in your documents? This online session will introduce you to EndNote, a subscription software programme which can help you to store, organise and retrieve your references and PDFs, as well as cite references in documents and create bibliographies quickly and easily. On completing the workshop you will be able to:
- Understand the main features and benefits of EndNote
- Set up an EndNote account
- Import references from different sources into EndNote
- Organise your references in EndNote
- Insert citations into documents
- Create a bibliography/reference list
Format: Online presentation and demonstration with time for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams