Academic Skills Service for Staff

These workshops support all Undergraduate and Taught Master’s Students in finding, using, and managing information. Click each header below to view a description and learning outcomes.

First Year In

Get off to a flying start and learn about using scholarly sources, using the Library catalogue & getting the most out of your Library to make your first year a success.

Upon successful completion of this workshop, students will be able to:

• Explain what is meant by scholarly sources and why it is important to use this type of information in academic work
• Recognise the library catalogue as the gateway to, and key source for, scholarly sources
• Use the library catalogue to carry out a simple search for a book and a journal article from a reading list
• Identify the supports and services offered by the library to support the student journey

FAB: Finding Articles and Books

Learn about the main features of the library catalogue, databases and how to search effectively for scholarly articles, books, ebooks.

Upon successful completion of this workshop, students will be able to:

• Search the library catalogue for books and journal articles using title/ author, or keywords
• Use features such as Boolean commands, phrase searching and filters to broaden or narrow keyword search results
• Identify print and electronic resources, locate print items within the library, access and manipulate electronic resources
• Find information regarding databases relevant to their subject area

Cite Them Right

Learn the basics of referencing, tools to help you manage your references and tips on maintaining good academic integrity including emerging challenges such as contract cheating and AI.

Upon successful completion of this workshop, students will be able to:

• Explain the meaning and importance of academic integrity and avoid practices that lead to academic misconduct
• Understand the principal of citing and referencing and how proper use can prevent accidental plagiarism
• Use in-text citations and references/footnotes appropriately
• Recognise that there are many different styles of citing and referencing
• Identify resources and tools to help with citing and referencing

An Introduction to Endnote for Citing & Referencing

Learn how to use Endnote to manage your reference library and use Cite While You Write (CWYW) to cite and reference in Microsoft Word

Upon successful completion of this workshop, students will be able to:

• Download the Endnote software for either Windows or Mac.
• Create an Endnote library.
• Export records from the library catalogue and key databases
• Use Cite While You Write (CWYW) in Microsoft Word to create citations and a reference list.

Literature Review: An Introduction to Searching the Literature

Learn how to find, use and manage information to conduct a literature review

Upon successful completion of this workshop, students will be able to:

• Define what is meant by a literature review and why it’s important in the research process
• Explain the importance of and how to narrow down a topic and articulate a research question
• Explain the difference between scholarly and popular sources and critically evaluate information
• Search for information effectively using Boolean operators, truncation and wildcards
• Identify resources and tools to help with citing and referencing