February Focus: Writing and Research
We are happy to report the enthusiasm for our new graduate writing workshops! As we build on the success of our Graduate Writing Communities, we add Literature Reviews: Part 2: Great Writing Starts Here! and Lay Summaries: Telling Your Research Story to the Wider World. Also new this month are our R (#rstats) consults. There has never been a better time to come check out what we have to offer—we hope to see you soon!
Quick Links
Workshops:
Pixelating: A Digital Humanities Mixer
Featured Instructor
When you decide to come to a Research Commons Workshop, you are making an investment in yourself with the guidance of our in-house experts.
Featured Instructor When you decide to come to a Research Commons Workshop, you are making an investment in yourself with the guidance of our in-house experts.
Meet José
José has been a key member of our Research Commons team for more than 3 years. During this time, José has become known at UBC for his expertise with NVivo software. His workshops are consistently packed because he augments his expertise with his accessible teaching style.
Here are is a representative comment from one of José’s students:
“The one-on-one consultation helped answer my specific questions about NVivo, saving much time and frustration. Plus the consultation helped me feel less isolated in my research, so that I know I have a lifeline if I can’t figure things out for myself.”
~PhD Graduate Student Education
José is a fifth year PhD candidate in the Sustainable Forest Management Research Group in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC. His research focuses on Indigenous communities from Chile, with particular interest in the land access struggles of Mapuche communities. He runs workshops, and also offers individual appointments, and e-mail consultations.
NEW Lay Summaries:
Telling Your Research Story to the Wider World In 2017, UBC added a lay summary requirement to all theses and dissertations, and more and more journals, publications, and granting agencies require researchers to provide summaries of their work for non-specialists. But how do you describe your specialized research in a way that people who aren’t experts can understand?
This workshop will help you to understand what a lay summary is and how it’s different from an abstract. Then, you’ll have an opportunity to work on creating a lay summary for your research, and get feedback on it from the workshop facilitators and other participants.
Friday, February 9th
10 AM – 11 AM
Koerner Library, Room 216
NEW R Consults (#rstats)
Are you considering or already working with R for your research stats? We are now offering one-on-one consults in R. Book a consult here.
NOW WEEKLY
Graduate Student Writing Community
(Choose Tuesdays or Wednesdays)
Writer’s block? Feeling isolated in your research and writing? Bit of both? You are not alone! Come discover what a difference writing in a community can make in one of our weekly writing communities! Join us on Tuesdays from 2PM-4PM or Wednesdays from 5PM-7PM
Literature Reviews (Part 1 and 2)
A literature review is one of the key ways of building a foundation for a research project. Collecting material for your literature review is only half the task; the other half is writing the review. Take both of these workshops to get on the right track for researching and writing.
Literature Reviews (Part 1): Great Research Starts Here! Friday, Feb 16th
10 AM – 12 PM
Woodward Library, Room B25
Workshop Description:
Topics covered in the Literature Reviews (Part 1): Great Research Starts Here workshop include:
- finding the right databases
- search strategies for databases
- finding scholarly articles, theses and dissertations, books, and more
- resources to help you keep track of your research.
NEW Literature Reviews (Part 2): Great Writing Starts Here! Friday, Feb 23rd
10AM – 12PM
Woodward Library, Sherrington Room (Room 103)
Workshop Description:
New this term is our Literature Reviews (Part 2): Great Writing Starts Here workshop. This workshop includes:
- structuring the written product, including making a point, connecting ideas and themes, and providing a scaffold for the broader research project
- examining sample reviews to identify strengths and weaknesses
Thesis Formatting Support
Have you heard about our Thesis Formatting workshop? Students consistently comment that this workshop saves them immense amounts of time. Join us this month! The last half hour of this interactive workshop is reserved for questions so you can get the specific help you need.
Friday, February 2nd
Woodward Library Computer Lab – Room B25
10AM – 12PM
Friday, February 16th
Koerner Library – Room 217
10AM – 12PM
If these dates don’t work for you, check out our complete list of Thesis Formatting workshops this semester.
Do you have specific questions about the formatting of your thesis that are not covered in our workshops? Book an appointment with one of our Thesis Formatting experts using the consult form.
Don’t forget to also check out our Thesis Formatting resources, including templates and guides!
Citation Management
Not sure which citation management tool to pick? Check out our handy comparison table (created by Allison Jones) to help you decide. This month join us for Mendeley and RefWorks at Woodward Library. If you are using Zotero, our next session is coming up in March.
Mendeley
Introduction to Citation Management Using Mendeley
Woodward Library, Room B25
Friday, February 9th
10 AM – 12 PM
RefWorks
Introduction to Citation Management Using RefWorks
Woodward Library, Room B25
Friday, February 23rd
10 AM – 12 PM
Zotero
Introduction to Citation Management Using Zotero
Koerner Library, Room 217
Friday, March 9th
10 AM – 12 PM
Do you have specific about citations in your thesis that were not answered in our workshops? Book a consult today to speak with one of our citation management experts.
NVivo Workshops
Working with text-based or multi-media data such as interviews, focus groups, or videos? NVivo is a powerful, user-friendly tool that can help you with data analysis. Join our workshop and see for yourself why so many our our past students only wish they came by sooner!
NVivo (Part 2) for Mac – Classification and Datasets
Koerner Library, Room 216
Tuesday, February 6th
10 AM – 12 PM
NVivo (PART 1) for PC – Getting Started with NVivo
Woodward Library Computer Lab – Room B25
Tuesday, February 13th
10 AM – 12 PM
NVivo (Part 2) for PC – Classification and Datasets
Woodward Library Computer Lab – Room B25
Tuesday, February 20th
10 AM – 12 PM
NVivo (Part 1) for Mac – Getting Started with NVivo
Koerner Library, Room 216
Tuesday, February 27th
10 AM – 12 PM
NVivo (Part 2) for Mac – Classification and Datasets
Koerner Library, Room 216
Tuesday, March 6th
10 AM – 12 PM
If these dates don’t work for you, book a one-on-one NVivo consultation by going here.
SPSS Support
Many of our SPSS workshop participants say they only wished they had come to our workshop earlier! Join us today to learn this user-friendly statistical analysis software. You don’t need to write any code – SPSS does this for you with just a few clicks.
SPSS Part 2: Data Management and Bivariate Analysis
Woodward Library Computer Lab, Room B25
Tuesday, February 6th
10 AM – 12 PM
SPSS Part 1: Environment, Data Entry and One Variable Analysis
Koerner Library, Room 217
Wednesday, February 28th
10 AM – 12 PM
SPSS Part 2: Data Management and Bivariate Analysis
Koerner Library, Room 217
Wednesday, March 7th
10 AM – 12 PM
You can also book a one-on-one SPSS consultation.
Scholarly Communications & Copyright Workshops
This month join Stephanie Savage (Scholarly Communications and Copyright Services Librarian) and the Scholarly Communications team for four exciting sessions.
Showcasing your Graduate Research in UBC’s Open Access Digital Repository: Help with Copyright and More
(Note: that you must be a Graduate Student to register for this particular session.)
Tuesday, February 6th
12:30PM – 2PM
Thea Koerner House, 6371 Crescent Road
Predatory Publishers: Their impact on scholarship and how they can be avoided
Wednesday, February 7th
12:30PM – 4:00PM
Koerner Library, Room 216
Building your Academic Profile
Wednesday, February 14th
11AM – 12PM
Koerner Library, Room 216
Author Rights for Academic Publishing
Wednesday, February 28th
12:30PM – 1:30PM
Koerner Library, Room 216
Can’t make one of these sessions? Contact Stephanie Savage, Scholarly Communications and Copyright Services Librarian, for one-on-one help
Mapping and GIS Workshops
Join us for these great mapping and GIS events this month. If you are interested in a hands-on introduction to web mapping using Carto Builder or Leaflet.js then we have the perfect workshops for you.
Up and Running with Leaflet.js: Webmaps from Scratch
Wednesday, February 7th
12PM – 2PM
Koerner Library, Room 217
Mapping in the Web with Carto Builder
Monday, February 26th
10:30 AM – 12 PM
Koerner Library, Room 217
Can’t make one of these sessions? Contact Evan Thornberry, GIS Librarian, for one-on-one help.
Systematic Reviews Search Methods
Need to know what the search process for systematic reviews is about? This session will cover: the stages of the systematic review process; framing your research question with tools like PICO; searching Medline and other databases, and the grey literature; and tips for using citation management software for systematic reviews.
Thursday, February 1st
12PM-2PM
Woodward Library Computer Lab – Room B25
Thursday, February 22nd
12PM-2PM
Woodward Library Computer Lab – Room B25
Can’t make one of these sessions? Contact Helen L. Brown, Woodward Reference Librarian, for one-on-one help.
Health Databases
In this session we will look at some of the most popular health sciences databases such as CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, or others depending on interest.
Tuesday, February 13th
BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Room 3113
(Click link for more specific location information)
2:00PM – 3:30PM
Can’t make this session? Contact Helen L. Brown, Woodward Reference Librarian, for one-on-one help.
Pixelating: A Digital Humanities Mixer
Co-working Sessions
The Pixelating Mixer is an opportunity for DH scholars across campus to meet colleagues, talk tools, brainstorm ideas and network with others who use digital tools to explore and visualize their research. Join us Thursdays 12-2 in Koerner Library.
