training

Get help with your writing

Are you about to embark on a substantial piece of writing and feeling daunted? Or maybe you are stuck in the middle of your dissertation? Perhaps an appointment with one of our Royal Literary Fund Fellows would help! This year our Fellows are Mary Paulson-Ellis, Lucy Ribchester and Lesley Glaister, all experienced and published authors.

You can book a one to one in person appointment with one of our Fellows, at the Main Library George Square, and there are also appointments available at Kings Buildings.

For more information take a look at our RLFF webpage.

Many of our students used this service last year and found it incredibly helpful to have in person one to one support and coaching for their writing.

Dissertation & Thesis Festival: 21 – 25 October 2024

This month we are looking forward to the library’s Dissertation and Thesis Festival, taking place from 21 – 25 October. You can find the programme of events here, there is sure to be something of interest to everyone!

Sessions include:

  • Decolonising your dissertation
  • An Introduction to Edinburgh Central Library
  • Introduction to Reference Managers
  • EndNote for managing references
  • Meet your Royal Literary Fund Fellows
  • Copyright and your Thesis
  • An Introduction to the National Library of Scotland

We look forward to welcoming you to our festival events, and helping you make the most of your dissertation and thesis writing experience!

Dissertation and Thesis Festival: 11 – 15 March 2024

A picture of a girl reading a book and a QR code for the festival programme

The Library is holding a Dissertation and Thesis Festival from 11 – 15 March 2024, aiming to support students to use library resources for dissertation and thesis success.  

To create the programme, we’ve collaborated with Digital Skills, IAD, Library Research Support and the Centre for Research Collections, as well as external publishers and other libraries including the NLS.  

Key themes for sessions in this year’s Festival include:

  • Using Film in Research
  • Getting started with NVivo 
  • Expert searches for systematic reviews  
  • Discover Overton : the world’s largest searchable index of policy documents
  • AI tools for literature searching: Opportunities, limitations, and responsible use 

Most sessions will be delivered online and will also be recorded, making them accessible to online only students and students unable to attend live sessions due to study or work commitments. 

In addition Festival sessions are complemented by modules in the LibSmart online course which can be undertaken at any time to build student knowledge and skills in library-based research. 

Click here for the Dissertation and Thesis Festival programme details.   

An infographic showing a film camera and details of a seminar on using film in research

 

 

Library launches new Diversifying Toolkit guide for staff

The Academic Support Librarian team have put together a subject guide on how to diversify your teaching, which aims to give staff and tutors an introduction on where to start with diversification, decolonisation and making your teaching and reading lists more EDI-friendly and aware. (EDI = Equality, Diversity & Inclusion).
You can access the guide here.
If you would like to read more about diversification, take a look at the recent Times Higher Ed article by Rowena Arshad, professor emerita at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, IECS, University of Edinburgh.

Autumn Dissertation Festival: 31 October – 4 November 2022

Want to find out more about the digital library resources available to research your dissertation question?  Interested in learning how to manage the bibliographic and research data you’ve found?  Thought about making your dissertation something special by using the fantastic collections available at the Centre for Research Collections?
Join us at the Dissertation Festival for a programme of online and in-person events, and learn what the Library can do for you to help you succeed with your dissertation. Our programme will include sessions by University teams and external suppliers. The in-person events include “Using pre-1900 printed sources”, at the CRC on November 1st, at 2.30pm, and “An Introduction to Collections Handling”, at the CRC on November 3rd, at 10.00am.

Welcome to all our new and returning students!

We wish all our new students a very happy Welcome Week, and extend a warm welcome to you and to all our returning students!
If you are new on-campus you will find these library orientation guides useful.
You can find the Library newsletters here.
You can find out about our Library skills self-enrol course on Learn, called Libsmart, here.
You can find out about our upcoming Dissertation Festival 2022 here. It runs from 31 October – 4 November.
If you have any questions about the Library services, or would like to arrange a 1-2-1 meeting with a librarian, take a look at the list of your academic support librarians here and make contact.

Digital Skills Festival 2022

Do you know about the Digital Skills Festival? There are still a few places left on the following workshops:
Introduction to reference managers – Monday 30 May 14:30-16:00:
https://digitalskillsfestival.ed.ac.uk/introduction-to-reference-managers/
Managing your references using Zotero – Tuesday 31 May 09:30-10:00:
https://digitalskillsfestival.ed.ac.uk/managing-your-references-using-zotero/
Enhancing your workflow with the new Web of Science platform – Tuesday 31 May 12:00-13:00:
https://digitalskillsfestival.ed.ac.uk/enhancing-your-workflow-with-the-new-web-of-science-platform/
Misinformation, disinformation and fake news: What is it all about? – Tuesday 31 May 13:00-13:30:
https://digitalskillsfestival.ed.ac.uk/misinformation-disinformation-and-fake-news-what-is-it-all-about/
Managing your references with EndNote – Thursday 2 June 13:00-14:00:
https://digitalskillsfestival.ed.ac.uk/managing-your-references-with-endnote/
Using Mendeley for bibliography management – Thursday 2 June 15:00-15:30:
https://digitalskillsfestival.ed.ac.uk/using-mendeley-for-bibliography-management/
 

Dissertation Festival : Monday 7 March – Friday 18 March 2022

  • Do you want to find out more about the library resources available to support your dissertation question?
  • Are you interested in learning how to manage the bibliographic and research data you’ve found?

Join us for two weeks of online events and find out what the Library can do for you to help you succeed with your dissertation.

  • Make your dissertation something special : find out about our fantastic collections of digital primary sources
  • Discover the full range of digital resources that you can access via the University
  • Take the first steps to learn new skills in managing your bibliographic references and your research data

Live session times don’t suit you? Dissertation Festival sessions are complemented by the modules in the new LibSmart II online course which can be undertaken at any time to build your knowledge and skills in the library landscape for your dissertation research. For more information, see http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/LibSmart
Find out more at : www.ed.ac.uk/is/dissertation-festival

Improve your library search skills with our LibSmart series 1 and 2!

The Academic Support Librarian team and colleagues across the Library services have produced a series of modules which students can work through at their own pace, via our VLE (virtual learning environment), Learn. LibSmart 1 launched last September and helped many new students learn how to navigate to, and make the most of, the library resources available to them.
Now for 2021/22 we have launched LibSmart 2, which features new modules on specific subjects, such as ‘Finding and using digital images’, ‘Digital primary sources and digital scholarship’, and ‘Special Collections fundamentals’.
You can access more information about the LibSmart 1 and 2 modules here:
https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/rm-and-consultancy/academic-support-librarians/libsmart
Have a question about the library services or collections? Contact your academic support librarian.

Digital Skills Festival this May

The ISG Digital Skills & Training team will be hosting an online Digital Skills Festival from 24 to 28 May 2021. The week will be divided into 5 themes:

  • Monday – Information, Data and Media Literacies
  • Tuesday – Digital Creation, Problem Solving and Innovation
  • Wednesday – Digital Communication, Collaboration and Participation
  • Thursday – Digital Learning, Teaching and Development
  • Friday – Digital Identity and Wellbeing

Free to attend for University of Edinburgh staff and students, the festival will include a number of interactive events, presentations, workshops and courses delivered by speakers from within and outside the University. To see more and to book onto sessions, go to their website
Web: https://www.ed.ac.uk/is/skills
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uoedigiskills
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uoedigiskills
Media Hopper: http://edin.ac/1UGe2zO