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 24th February 2025 10:00-11:00
iSkills for Medicine: Poster clinic
Are you preparing a poster presentation for an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This interactive session, or ‘poster clinic’, will include a group discussion of different examples of poster presentations, as well as an opportunity to present your own draft of your poster presentation to your fellow attendees. It is expected that the small group of peers in attendance will provide feedback and respectful comments on each other’s work. By the end of this classroom-based session you will be able to:
- evaluate the effectiveness of your poster presentation and others; and
- summarise the content of your poster concisely in preparation for a conference.
This will NOT be a taught session on how to use image processing software.
Format: Group discussion and individual poster presentations.
Location: Beeson Room, Cairns Library, John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU.
Monday 24th February 2025 15:30-17:00
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
Tuesday 25th February 2025 10:00-12:00
iSkills: Working with sensitive research data
A workshop outlining some of the key principles to bear in mind when working with sensitive or restricted research; whether collected yourself or obtained from a third-party source such as a data archive. Issues of confidentiality, informed consent, cybersecurity and data management will be covered. Examples of scenarios or concerns drawn from the research of participants are particularly welcome. The role of support services at Oxford will also be outlined and in particular the role of the Bodleian Data Librarian who will lead the session. Follow up consultations with the Data librarian or other subject consultants are also offered. Topics to be covered include:
- Key best practice principles when working with sensitive or restricted research data
- Issues around creating original data
- Informed consent agreements
- Maximising the usage potential of data during and after a project
- Strengths and weaknesses of anonymisation, data blurring and similar techniques
- Key strategies for protecting data including encryption, embargoes, future vetting and access restrictions
- Obligation put on researchers by legislation and research partners
Format: Teacher-led presentation with opportunity for discussion.
Location: Social Science Library, Information Skills Training Room, Manor Road, OX1 3UQ
Tuesday 25th February 2025 13:00-14:00
iSkills: Searching for patents and standards
Patents and standards are a valuable source of technical information relevant to the fields of engineering, materials sciences, and more. Together, they provide approved rules and guidelines whilst helping to protect inventions and innovative ideas. They can, however, be tricky to find. Join this session to find out more about what patents and standards are, why they might be useful for your research and how to find them in specific databases. By the end of this session, you will:
- Know what a patent is and where to find it
- Know what a standard is and where to find it
- Be able to reference patents and standards
Format: Classroom-based. Presentation with discussion.
Location: Radcliffe Science Library, Seminar Room, Parks Road, OX2 3QP
Tuesday 25th February 2025 15:00-16:00
Open Scholarship: Your thesis, copyright & ORA
Oxford DPhil students are required to deposit a copy of their thesis in the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA). This online session will focus on what ORA is and how to deposit one’s thesis in ORA, and how to access help with this process. It will also cover the relevant rights and permissions required and other issues that DPhil students need to take into account when preparing their thesis for upload to ORA. Topics include:
- What ORA is and what you need to deposit
- How to deposit your thesis in ORA
- Observing relevant rights and permissions
- Accessing help with depositing your thesis in ORA
Format: Live online presentation followed by interactive discussion and Q&A.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Wednesday 26th February 2025 14:00-15:30
Open Scholarship: Introduction to Persistent Identifiers
Persistent Identifiers (PID’s) provide a consistent way of digitally referencing items that aims to be more reliable than a simple web address. This is important for scholarly communications because citation and attribution are essential elements of scholarly apparatus. This course will introduce you to the concept of Persistent Identifiers, the problems that they address, and how they can be used in the academic environment to simplify some tasks. It will examine several different types of identifier, some of which are currently widely used (DOI’s for publications/data and ORCID’s for researchers) and others which are emerging in importance.
Format: Online presentation with time for questions.
Location: Microsoft Teams
Thursday 27th February 2025 09:00-12:00
Open Scholarship: Copyright the card game
Join Chris Morrison (Copyright & Licensing Specialist) and Georgina Kiddy (Digital Services Librarian) to play Copyright the Card Game. This interactive, games-based session introduces you to the key concepts of copyright law and allows you to apply them in practice. No prior knowledge is required, and the session caters for all whatever their level of experience with copyright. At the end of the session participants will be able to:
- Explore how copyright really works in practice
- Interpret the legislation and apply the relevant legal concepts to their own work
- Practice using the exceptions and licences in sector-specific examples
- Discuss the role of risk management in making decisions about the ethical creation and use of copyright material
Format: The workshop is highly interactive with multiple opportunities for discussion about copyright, underpinned by a clear framework.
Location: Radcliffe Science Library, Seminar Room, Parks Road, OX2 3QP
Thursday 27th February 2024 12:30-14:30
iSkills for Medicine: Searching systematically
This 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.
After the main 90-minute workshop, one of the Bodleian Health Care Libraries Outreach Librarians will be available for another 30 minutes to answer questions about your own searches, so feel free to bring along what you are working on.
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: Teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions. The last 30 minutes are an opportunity to ask any questions you have about your own searches.
Location: Beeson Room, Cairns Library, John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU
Friday 28th February 2025 10:00-11:30
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