Category Archives: research postgraduates

Information for pre-doctoral research postgraduates

Did you know: Working on your thesis? Help is available in the Library

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Here’s an outline of what help is available from the Library and IT Services for those of you working on your thesis.

Searching for theses in your subject area

You can access three large databases of theses through Primo:

  1. Sign in to Primo
  2. Click on the Find Databases tab
  3. From the left-hand menu, click on the arrow next to All General Resources
  4. Select Theses from the options shown
  5. Then click on each database for more information and to link out and search for relevant theses.

For further information and more theses databases, please see this guidance document created by Library staff.

A selection of University of Aberdeen theses are also available in the Digital Collections section of Primo. There are both Research and Taught Course theses covering a range of programmes, but it doesn’t contain all theses and dissertations submitted at the University of Aberdeen. For Research Theses:

  1. Sign in to Primo
  2. Click on the Digital Collections tab
  3. Select Research theses
  4. The theses are arranged in Subject Collections

Information Skills

Our Find it Fast! Wiki is packed with material to help with your information skills, from planning your search to referencing. There is a specific section for Postgraduate Researchers. There are also runs regular online sessions about pertinent topics such as literature searching. More information and details of how to book can be found in Online Information Skills Workshops for PhD students: now open for booking.

Our Toolkit also provides a wealth of information on IT and Academic Skills to assist in organising and managing your time and information. The IT Services Team have also created the Working with Long Documents section, which has plenty of handy videos and guides to help you with creating and manipulating long documents in MS Word.

Remember, we are here to support you through your studies, so if you require further help and advice, please do contact us via informationconsultants@abdn.ac.uk.

Best of luck to all those of you working on your thesis!

Online Information Skills workshops for PhD researchers: now open for booking

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As you begin, or continue your PhD, it is important that you feel confident that you are locating and managing all the literature and information you require to achieve your research aims.

The Library Service is here to support your research so we will be running a series of three Online Information Skills Workshops starting at the end of June 2022. The workshops’ aim is to help you understand the resources available to you as researchers here at the University of Aberdeen, and how to get the best out of them. Read on for further information on the workshops.

28 June
Literature searching: Part 1 – Planning a search, resources, access and support

  • Planning your search, using Boolean operators and applying search rules
  • Using Primo to identify possible resources to support your research
  • Accessing resources (authentication – Shibboleth and other routes)
  • Library help and support

28 June
Literature searching: Part 2 – Primo, ebooks and Google

  • How to get the best out of Primo (the library catalogue and discovery tool)
  • Ebook collections
  • Streamlining your searches in Google, Google Scholar and other search engines

29 June
Literature searching: Part 3 – Scopus and Web of Science databases

Overview of the features and options within the two largest and broadest databases that we have access to. The training slot is one hour, however, there is an option to re-join the session later in the morning to ask questions once you have had the chance to try things out for yourself.

Feedback from those who have previously attended these sessions has been positive and highlights how after attending, students felt better equipped to find and manage the materials they need for research. One quote from a previous attendee nicely sums up what we are aiming for with these sessions:

“I will definitely be searching smarter than before”

Our aim is that after you attend, you will also leave feeling this way.

To find out more, and to book onto the different workshops please visit www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and look for Information Skills classes.

Live Q&A sessions for PGR students: Library resources and services

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Unsure how to start looking for materials to support your research? No idea what a Shibboleth login is? Confused about Boolean linking words, truncation and wildcard symbols? How to access and find electronic content?

The Sir Duncan Rice Library

If the answer to any of those is “Yes” then join us for some short demonstrations of library resources. You can ask us any library-related or literature searching questions you may have, and we’ll do our best to answer them.

Our Q&A sessions are scheduled for 26 November, 2 December, and 16 December, and will be delivered via Collaborate. To find out more and to book a place, visit: abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and change the category to ‘Library Information Skills’.

Please get in touch if you have any questions – s.mccourt@abdn.ac.uk

International Open Access Week 25-31 October

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Information on the Open Access Week for 2021
Open Access Week 2021

This week is International Open Access Week. Check out our Quick Guide to Open Research and join us for an online lunchtime overview of open access publishing on Wednesday October 27 at 12 noon. Book your place and get joining details here: www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking/11746

Further information on Open Access can be found on our webpages: www.abdn.ac.uk/library/support/open-access-212.php

Live Q&A sessions for PGR students: Library resources and services

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Unsure how to start looking for library materials? No idea what a Shibboleth login is? Want to find out about the Click and Collect service if you are in Aberdeen? How to access and find electronic content?

If the answer to any of those is “Yes” then join us for some short demonstrations of library resources. You will be able to ask us any questions you may have and we’ll do our best to answer them.

Our Q&A sessions are scheduled for 15, 21 & 24 June and will be delivered via Collaborate. To find out more and to book a place, visit: 
abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and change the category to ‘Library Information Skills’.

Please get in touch if you have any questions – e.grant@abdn.ac.uk

Live Q&A sessions for PGR students: Library resources and services

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Unsure where to start? No idea what a Shibboleth login is? Want to find out about the Click and Collect service if you are in Aberdeen? How to access and find electronic content?

If the answer to any of those is “Yes” then join us for some short demonstrations of library resources in advance of more detailed library sessions, which will be advertised later in the month. You will be able to ask us any questions you may have and we’ll do our best to answer them.

Our Q&A sessions are scheduled for 11 & 12 November and will be delivered via Collaborate. To find out more and to book a place, visit: 
abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and change the category to ‘Library Information Skills’.

Please get in touch if you have any questions.
s.mmcourt@abdn.ac.uk
eleni.boro@abdn.ac.uk

Did you know…? Digital Research Services

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Digital Research Services supports researchers at the University of Aberdeen throughout the life cycle of their research projects, from conception to archive. We can support you with IT or data-related queries including but not restricted to those about hardware, software, cloud services, data management (including analysis, data management plans, meta data, protection, and storage). Contact us via digitalresearch@abdn.ac.uk.

Find out more about IT for Researchers at https://www.abdn.ac.uk/toolkit/services/it-researchers/

#OAWeek

Introduction to Open Research – online session on 14 July – cancelled

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Introduction to Open Research
Tuesday 14th July 12:00 – 12:30

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The Scholarly Communications Team in the Library are available to provide advice, guidance and support to help you make your research open.

Our next Teams information session ‘Introduction to Open Research’ on the 14th of July at 12:00 will give an overview of our services and give some tips on what you can do to improve open access to your research. Aimed at Postgraduate Research Students and academic staff, the session is available on the course booking-system now. To book a place, please visit: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking (select category ‘Library and Information Skills’).

For more information, please contact Joanna Adams: openaccess@abdn.ac.uk

Information skills workshops for PhD students

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The Library is here to help all postgraduate researchers with a series of information skills workshops which will take place on the 11th, 12th and 13th of February. 

UL_library_workshops_Janet1psd

There are three workshops on offer, each lasting two hours:

  • Literature searching – Part 1: Getting started
  • Literature searching – Part 2: Using databases
  • Literature searching – Part 3:  Managing references using RefWorks

Across the three workshops we will look at: planning a search, looking for books, using databases of academic literature, getting the best out of Google and managing references with RefWorks.

Please note that the session on RefWorks is not suitable for postgraduates in the School of Law. 

For more information and to book a place on these sessions, please visit: www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and look for ‘Library Information Skills’ classes.

PhD students and new academic staff – Library & IT induction sessions now available for booking

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Library and IT induction sessions for new PhD students and members of University staff are now available for booking on the University’s course booking system. Held in The Sir Duncan Rice Library, these small group sessions are designed for academic staff and research postgraduate students new to the University of Aberdeen and provide a general introduction to The Sir Duncan Rice Library (TSDRL) on the Old Aberdeen campus and Digital Research services.

There are three sessions on offer before the Christmas holidays but more will run monthly until June.

  • Tuesday   19   November:   10:00 – 11:30
  • Tuesday   26   November:   10:00 – 11:30 
  • Thursday 12  December:    14:00 – 15:30 

During the introduction we will cover:

  • How to get the best from our data storage, data management planning, high-performance computing (HPC) survey and collaboration tools
  • How the Library works, e.g. borrowing and requesting materials
  • Primo, the gateway to all the library resources here at UoA
  • Specialised academic databases suitable for your research
  • What library staff can do to support you in your research

This informal induction and tour provide an opportunity to meet with the Library’s Information Consultants and members of staff from Digital Research – ask any questions you may have about computing services or access to suitable library materials. For more detailed information on literature searching, book onto separate 2-hour workshops which run at key points through the year (normally November, February, April and June).

We look forward to meeting with any new PhD students or staff, to help you get the best out of our extensive resources while you carry out your research.

For  more information visit: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking/