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Thank you so much for the Library session today. It was probably one of the most important and useful lectures I’ve had. I've always shied away from literature searching as I’ve found the process to be overwhelming but your hands on lecture and guidance has given me the confidence to have a go and start running searches with a more systematic approach.

Postgraduate student

About us

We support students, researchers and staff with a range of information skills training courses to help you make the most of our resources.

Workshops

Come to one of our  training sessions offered either via  MS Teams or face to face.

Visit our Library Training Calendar to see our full list of events and book a session or look out for a course-based session on your timetable.

1-2-1 Appointments

1-2-1  appointments with your liaison librarian are also available via MS Teams or face to face if you need personalised help with any of the topics covered in our workshops. Email  liaison@sgul.ac.uk to request a 1-2-1.

See below for information about the sessions we can run. 

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An introduction to critical appraisal: how to read a research article
Course outline

Skills to appraise and evaluate research literature are key to being able to judge whether it is trustworthy, relevant and of value. This course will introduce the concepts of critical appraisal and give an overview of the tools and techniques which can be used in this process to understand scientific evidence.

Who is this course for?

NHS staff and university academic or research staff who want to understand more about the critical appraisal process. It assumes that you have no prior or little knowledge of critical appraisal.

Upcoming sessions

Available on request. Email: liaison@sgul.ac.uk

https://sgul.libcal.com/calendar/infoskills


Please email liaison@sgul.ac.uk

An introduction to Web of Science
Course outline

Web of Science is a database providing access to billions of cited references, dating back to 1900 in the areas of life sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Reference materials include journals, books, reports, and conference papers.

This online introductory session provides a tutorial on how to use Web of Science to develop and execute searches on topics and how to manage results found. Participants will also learn how to access citation information and gain an insight into other bibliometric products available at St. George's from Clarivate such as Journal Citation Reports and Essential Science Indicators.

Who is this course for?

University academic staff, researchers, all students.

Upcoming sessions

Available on request. Email: liaison@sgul.ac.uk

https://sgul.libcal.com/calendar/infoskills

Finding the evidence: for NHS staff
Course outline

Finding top-quality evidence is a priority for health care practitioners. This session will introduce the high-quality resources available to you, as well as provide training in how to use them effectively to support evidence-based clinical practice or decision-making.

The session will cover:

  • the range of evidence-based healthcare resources available, including: NHS Evidence, Clinical Knowledge Summaries, the Cochrane Library and BMJ Best Practice
  • how to use the NHS databases effectively and identify the most appropriate database for your need
  • how to create and plan a search strategy using subject headings and keywords and how to combine searches and apply limits to focus your results
  • how to access full-text articles where available or locate articles through St George’s journals page
  • how to save your searches and set up alerts.
Who is this course for?

NHS staff and placement students.

Upcoming sessions

This course will run in 2023/24. See dates and booking form on the link below:

https://sgul.libcal.com/calendar/infoskills

NHS staff induction
Course outline

Library induction for NHS staff, introducing you to the range of services and resources on offer to those working for St George’s Hospital, Queen Mary’s Hospital and other community-based sites.

Who is this course for?

NHS staff and placement students.

Upcoming sessions

This course will run in 2023/24. See dates and booking form on the link below:

To book visit: https://sgul.libcal.com/calendar/infoskills

 

Literature searching for your dissertation, review or research project
Course outline

Participants will learn how to effectively use subject databases, such as CINAHL, Medline (a.k.a Pubmed) and Embase. The resources used for research can be discussed with the librarian during the session in order to select the most appropriate one(s).

Learning objectives
  • Identify an appropriate subject database for your search
  • Plan, phrase and record a sophisticated search strategy
  • Apply advanced search techniques, such as alternative keywords, truncation and phrase searching to a relevant database.
  • Broaden or focus your results using BOOLEAN operators.
  • Review results and edit your search terms to improve relevancy of results.
  • Save your search and results for future reference.
Who is this course for?

Suitable for academic staff and researchers, and students in year 2 or above who are looking to further their understanding of literature searching in order to conduct in-depth research into a topic.

Upcoming sessions

This course will run in  2023/24

See dates and booking form on the link below:

To book visit: https://sgul.libcal.com/calendar/infoskills

If no suitable dates are available, contact the library to arrange a bespoke session.

My Reading List (Leganto)
Course outline

The Library introduced a new reading list system - My Reading Lists – in July. The new system integrates with Canvas to make it easier for students to identify and access key texts, recommended readings and other resources to fulfil their learning objectives. It will also make it easier for you to add a range of resources and to identify the latest editions of books that the Library holds. This session will help you get to know My Reading List and learn more about how you and your students can use it.

Please note that you must be a member of the Library to access and edit My Reading Lists. If you are not already a member, please register here before the session.

Email liaison@sgul.ac.uk if you have any questions or need help with My Reading Lists.

Who is this course for?

This session is aimed at teaching staff.

Learning objectives

We will get you started on creating one of your own Module Reading Lists during the session. The session will cover:

how to add resources from Hunter (the Library's search tool); how to add websites; tips on how to create better Reading Lists; how to request a Digitization of an article or book chapter; why you should use web links instead of uploading pdfs; how to duplicate or associate a list with a second or further module, and know when it is appropriate to do so; why it's important to add tags to an item; instructions on the publishing process.

The session will also give you an opportunity to ask questions about any current reading lists you already have.

During the session, we recommend you use an existing list from one of your current modules from which to create your new list.

Upcoming sessions

Available on request. Email: liaison@sgul.ac.uk

Introduction to Referencing/RefWorks
Course outline

Participants will be shown how to use Cite Them Right to reference according to St George’s standard of Harvard. Participants will also learn how to manage and store their references using RefWorks.  You will also be introduced to the add-on Reference Citation Manager (RCM) for Microsoft Word which can help you with your referencing by inserting citations and generating bibliographies within Word documents.

Learning objectives
  • Understand why you have to reference
  • Know what plagiarism is and what it isn’t
  • Be able to reference using the Harvard style and do in-text citations and references
  • Use Cite Them Right Online confidently
  • Import references to RefWorks from a variety of platforms, such as Hunter, EbscoHost, Ovid, PubMed and Google Scholar
  • Organise and manage a variety of references in RefWorks
  • Practise using Reference Citation Manager to create in-text citations and generate bibliographies in Word
Who is this course for?

Suitable for students and researchers undertaking extensive pieces of academic writing such as dissertations and theses or smaller assignments such as essays

Upcoming sessions

This course will run in 2023/24. See link below for dates and booking form.

To book, visit: https://sgul.libcal.com/calendar/infoskills

If no suitable dates are available, contact the library to arrange a bespoke session.

Systematic reviews: finding and managing the evidence
Course outline

This half-day course will focus on in-depth literature searching for systematic reviewers and how to manage your results. It will provide you with an overview of the systematic review process, know-how of creating effective search strategies, systematic searching of the literature, managing your results and documenting the search process.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this session you will be able to:

  • plan robust search strategies for literature searches in support of systematic reviews
  • carry out systematic, advanced searches on the Ovid platform
  • save searches strategies and create alerts
  • plan how you will manage your search results and report on your search methodology.
Who is this course for?

NHS staff, academic staff, researchers, postgraduate students.

Upcoming sessions
Due to staff changes this course is currentlly available on request. Email: liaison@sgul.ac.uk

To book visit: https://sgul.libcal.com/calendar/infoskills


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