Biological Sciences Libraries Study Skills Training Programme 2023-2024
(Tue 3 Oct 2023 - Wed 22 Nov 2023)
October 2023
| Tue 3 |
This session will provide an overview of the support and resources available from the Biological Sciences Libraries Team, as well as other useful services from across the University of Cambridge, for undergraduate students taking their Part II year in a Biological Sciences subject. It will also provide an introduction to the various training opportunities on offer from library staff to help students with research projects and/or dissertations. Please note that some Part II cohorts will have a timetabled induction so be sure to check your course handbooks or other information before booking a place. These sessions are for Part II students based in departments with reduced or no library staffing during Michaelmas Term. A recording of the content covered in this induction session will be made available on the dedicated Natural Sciences Tripos LibGuide. |
| Fri 6 |
This session will provide an overview of the support and resources available from the Biological Sciences Libraries Team, as well as other useful services from across the University of Cambridge, for undergraduate students taking their Part II year in a Biological Sciences subject. It will also provide an introduction to the various training opportunities on offer from library staff to help students with research projects and/or dissertations. Please note that some Part II cohorts will have a timetabled induction so be sure to check your course handbooks or other information before booking a place. These sessions are for Part II students based in departments with reduced or no library staffing during Michaelmas Term. A recording of the content covered in this induction session will be made available on the dedicated Natural Sciences Tripos LibGuide. |
| Mon 9 |
In this session we will help you work out why you want to find a particular resource for your work and how having this knowledge will then help you use the best searching approach to finding the thing you need. We will work through looking for things you know exist, things that you haven't found yet, as well as things that just a bit strange. We will help you translate recommended readings from your lectures as well as showing you all the tips and tricks that librarians use to find things, freeing you up to get on with studying and finishing that piece of work quicker! |
| Wed 11 |
In this session we will help you work out why you want to find a particular resource for your work and how having this knowledge will then help you use the best searching approach to finding the thing you need. We will work through looking for things you know exist, things that you haven't found yet, as well as things that just a bit strange. We will help you translate recommended readings from your lectures as well as showing you all the tips and tricks that librarians use to find things, freeing you up to get on with studying and finishing that piece of work quicker! |
| Fri 13 |
In this session we will help you work out why you want to find a particular resource for your work and how having this knowledge will then help you use the best searching approach to finding the thing you need. We will work through looking for things you know exist, things that you haven't found yet, as well as things that just a bit strange. We will help you translate recommended readings from your lectures as well as showing you all the tips and tricks that librarians use to find things, freeing you up to get on with studying and finishing that piece of work quicker! |
| Mon 16 |
This live session is designed to build your skills in reading critically and assessing resources as part of your first year studies. Additional techniques around using effective note-taking, selecting what to read from lectures, as well as building your critical language when writing your first pieces of work will also be covered. There will opportunities for discussion throughout the session so you can ask any questions you may have. This session is for students taking a Biological Sciences route (Natural Sciences, Psychology & MedVet) at Part IA/IB. |
| Wed 18 |
This live session is designed to build your skills in reading critically and assessing resources as part of your first year studies. Additional techniques around using effective note-taking, selecting what to read from lectures, as well as building your critical language when writing your first pieces of work will also be covered. There will opportunities for discussion throughout the session so you can ask any questions you may have. This session is for students taking a Biological Sciences route (Natural Sciences, Psychology & MedVet) at Part IA/IB. |
| Fri 20 |
This live session is designed to build your skills in reading critically and assessing resources as part of your first year studies. Additional techniques around using effective note-taking, selecting what to read from lectures, as well as building your critical language when writing your first pieces of work will also be covered. There will opportunities for discussion throughout the session so you can ask any questions you may have. This session is for students taking a Biological Sciences route (Natural Sciences, Psychology & MedVet) at Part IA/IB. |
| Mon 23 |
Biological Sciences: Introduction to Literature Searching for your dissertation or project (Part II)
Finished
Need to find scientific literature and resources for your Part II dissertation or project? We've got you covered. In this session, we will introduce you to breaking down your research question, developing your keywords or vocabulary for what you want to search for, before putting it all together using tried and tested techniques to get the best results quickly. We'll show you where to find relevant and reliable resources, how to navigate pesky paywalls and even how to hack Google...legally of course! If you can't make our live sessions, everything we talk about (and a little bit more) is covered in our self-guided online course. Want something a bit more advanced? Check out our Going further with your literature searching for your Biological Sciences dissertation or project workshop which will show more detailed searching, demonstrate how the reference manager Zotero can help you at Part II, as well as leaving lots of time for questions and troubleshooting. |
| Wed 25 |
Biological Sciences: Introduction to Literature Searching for your dissertation or project (Part II)
Finished
Need to find scientific literature and resources for your Part II dissertation or project? We've got you covered. In this session, we will introduce you to breaking down your research question, developing your keywords or vocabulary for what you want to search for, before putting it all together using tried and tested techniques to get the best results quickly. We'll show you where to find relevant and reliable resources, how to navigate pesky paywalls and even how to hack Google...legally of course! If you can't make our live sessions, everything we talk about (and a little bit more) is covered in our self-guided online course. Want something a bit more advanced? Check out our Going further with your literature searching for your Biological Sciences dissertation or project workshop which will show more detailed searching, demonstrate how the reference manager Zotero can help you at Part II, as well as leaving lots of time for questions and troubleshooting. |
| Fri 27 |
Biological Sciences: Introduction to Literature Searching for your dissertation or project (Part II)
Finished
Need to find scientific literature and resources for your Part II dissertation or project? We've got you covered. In this session, we will introduce you to breaking down your research question, developing your keywords or vocabulary for what you want to search for, before putting it all together using tried and tested techniques to get the best results quickly. We'll show you where to find relevant and reliable resources, how to navigate pesky paywalls and even how to hack Google...legally of course! If you can't make our live sessions, everything we talk about (and a little bit more) is covered in our self-guided online course. Want something a bit more advanced? Check out our Going further with your literature searching for your Biological Sciences dissertation or project workshop which will show more detailed searching, demonstrate how the reference manager Zotero can help you at Part II, as well as leaving lots of time for questions and troubleshooting. |
| Mon 30 |
Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after all of the reading, notes and research that make up undergraduate study in a biological sciences subject. A really good reference manager can even take some of the pain out of referencing in essays and assignments, making sure you don't miss a thing while working to a deadline. This session will introduce Zotero, an open source reference manager tool. Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Zotero (and tools like it) can help you manage your work in the first year or two of your degree, ensuring that you don't lose any essential resources and are well equipped with a useful tool for when you start having to do research work for your Part II studies. |
November 2023
| Fri 3 |
Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after all of the reading, notes and research that make up undergraduate study in a biological sciences subject. A really good reference manager can even take some of the pain out of referencing in essays and assignments, making sure you don't miss a thing while working to a deadline. This session will introduce Zotero, an open source reference manager tool. Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Zotero (and tools like it) can help you manage your work in the first year or two of your degree, ensuring that you don't lose any essential resources and are well equipped with a useful tool for when you start having to do research work for your Part II studies. |
| Mon 6 |
This live session is designed to build your skills in reading and assessing research articles for your Part II studies in Biological Sciences. We will cover how to approach reading for different purposes, apply different reading strategies, and critically evaluate articles. We will also spend some time on managing what you’ve read (or not yet read) and writing your literature review, including how to select items to include and reference them properly. There will be activities and discussions throughout the session so you can try your new skills and ask any questions you may have. This session is for students taking a Biological Sciences route (NST and PBST) for Part II. |
| Wed 8 |
This live session is designed to build your skills in reading and assessing research articles for your Part II studies in Biological Sciences. We will cover how to approach reading for different purposes, apply different reading strategies, and critically evaluate articles. We will also spend some time on managing what you’ve read (or not yet read) and writing your literature review, including how to select items to include and reference them properly. There will be activities and discussions throughout the session so you can try your new skills and ask any questions you may have. This session is for students taking a Biological Sciences route (NST and PBST) for Part II. |
| Fri 10 |
This live session is designed to build your skills in reading and assessing research articles for your Part II studies in Biological Sciences. We will cover how to approach reading for different purposes, apply different reading strategies, and critically evaluate articles. We will also spend some time on managing what you’ve read (or not yet read) and writing your literature review, including how to select items to include and reference them properly. There will be activities and discussions throughout the session so you can try your new skills and ask any questions you may have. This session is for students taking a Biological Sciences route (NST and PBST) for Part II. |
| Mon 13 |
This live session builds on skills and knowledge developed through our online Introduction to Literature Searching course and live introductory sessions. Join us as we move beyond basic searching and give you live demonstrations of some of the more detailed searches you can do using our databases, how you can get more information out, as well as a live exploration of the reference manager Zotero. We will have activities and opportunities for discussion throughout so this session will be truly tailored to your needs. We'll end with an opportunity to ask questions, learn from what other people have done and whatever else comes up. |
| Wed 15 |
This live session builds on skills and knowledge developed through our online Introduction to Literature Searching course and live introductory sessions. Join us as we move beyond basic searching and give you live demonstrations of some of the more detailed searches you can do using our databases, how you can get more information out, as well as a live exploration of the reference manager Zotero. We will have activities and opportunities for discussion throughout so this session will be truly tailored to your needs. We'll end with an opportunity to ask questions, learn from what other people have done and whatever else comes up. |
| Fri 17 |
This live session builds on skills and knowledge developed through our online Introduction to Literature Searching course and live introductory sessions. Join us as we move beyond basic searching and give you live demonstrations of some of the more detailed searches you can do using our databases, how you can get more information out, as well as a live exploration of the reference manager Zotero. We will have activities and opportunities for discussion throughout so this session will be truly tailored to your needs. We'll end with an opportunity to ask questions, learn from what other people have done and whatever else comes up. |
| Mon 20 |
Designing your first academic poster can be a bit overwhelming with lots of choices to be made: how much information do you include? How do you get your key message across? How do you make it look good? Join us for our introductory session which will explore these things and more. We'll help you work out what your key message is, give you some advice on what to include (and what to cut out), how to make everything look visually appealing as well as accessible for a diverse range of audiences. We'll even give you some tips on how to present your poster to others. |
| Wed 22 |
Biological Sciences: Building your presentation skills with confidence (for undergraduates)
Finished
Giving a presentation is something everyone has to do whether it is for your course, for an extracurricular activity or society event, or even in the workplace. In this session we'll take you through planning your presentation, how to make everything look good as well as accessible for a diverse range of audiences, as well as introducing you to techniques to present with confidence. And to help finish things off, we'll also give you some tips on how to deal with situations when it all goes a bit wrong. |