JUSTIS Academy for law students and recent graduates

Learn essential legal research skills

At the start of your legal career, you could spend up to a third of your time conducting legal research. To succeed, you must be able to find answers quickly, and be confident that the information you provide is accurate and complete.

Justis Academy is a half-day course to master practical legal research skills and enhance your employability. Starting in London this summer, the Academy is open to all law students and trainee practitioners. It’s delivered in partnership with Ruth Bird, former Bodleian Law Librarian at the University of Oxford, and Emily Allbon, creator of Lawbore and Senior Lecturer at the City Law School (City, University of London).
The first course is sold out but you can register for information on the next event  

Research Bites Summer Workshops

Research Bites are short, informal seminars on topics relevant to researchers at all levels, run by Library Services. The aim is to deliver useful information, start discussions and answer questions for the benefit of anyone conducting research at Aston University.

Whether you want a quick refresher on a single topic or a comprehensive updating of your information and research skills, you will find something for you.

When: 1pm, Wednesdays in July and August
Where: Library 2nd Floor Workshop A

For the full 2017 programme, see below.

Title	Abstract		Review the content
Advanced Literature Searching	Whatever your current skill level in searching the literature, improve the speed, precision and recall of your searches.	Wednesday 5th July Richard Hopkins	Book Here
Ethics and code of practice of publishing in journals	Publishing the findings of our research is an essential step in sharing our work with academics and practitioners who work in our field. But how can we ensure that the manuscripts we submit meet the ethical standards required by journal editors? This session examines best practice when preparing an article for publication and highlights some of the traps to avoid.	Please note the change of day Friday 7th July Jeanette Lilley	Book Here
EndNote	Are you drowning under piles of articles? Would you like a system which will organise and manage your references for you?  Try Endnote, the University recommended reference management software.  Find out how to utilise the system to store your articles and manage your references wherever you are working in the world.	Wednesday 26th July Clare Langman	Book Here
Measuring Research Impact - Bibliometrics	Bibliometrics are becoming increasingly important as a way to measure the performance and impact of individual researchers as well as academic institutions.  This session will look at how bibliometrics are being used and how they support the REF.	Wednesday 2nd August Nicola Dennis	Book Here
Grey Literature	Have you ever struggled to locate material that was not published in a traditional database or index?  Are you looking to include such information in a systematic review?  Would you like to add value to your research? You may have been looking for grey literature.  It is produced by academia, businesses, industry and all levels of government.  Grey literature is primary literature that can provide a wider and more up-to-date picture of current research. Find out how you can enhance your research, where to find grey literature and how to evaluate it.	Wednesday 9th August Kerstin Treder	Book Here
Open Access and Open Data	Do you have questions about Open Access publishing or Open Data? Would you like to know more about the policies and how to achieve compliance, e.g. for HEFCE, RCUK and the EC? Do you need help to upload publications and/or datasets to our repositories?  Whether you are a new researcher/PhD student to Aston or require a refresher session, specialists in Open Access (Malcolm Horne) and Open Data (Ammar Wahid) will be delivering this ResearchBite to guide you through the complexities and processes.	Wednesday 16th August Malcolm Horne Ammar Wahid	Book Here

Need to find industry or economic statistics?

Aston University Library has a industry and economic statistics within a database called Passport.  This Euromonitor data is available for research on industries, countries and consumers. Passport us about to enhnce their statistics provision from the 3rd of July 2017. 

• New statistics interface - a streamlined statistics page allows you to do more with the data both in and out of Passport

• Pricing data type features -  updates to the pricing data allow you to change currencies and compare per unit prices across key brands 

Passport enhancements for 2017

Going away for the summer vacation period? Advice re Library Books.

The Library wishes all students a very pleasant summer break.

If you're going away for the summer vacation then please bear in mind that books are subject to recall (so may be due back before the start of term 1). With this is mind:

• Don't leave books that you don't need in your accommodation (or anywhere you can't get hold of them)
• Please return any books you don't need to the Library before you go away
• Don't take books abroad in case someone reserves the books and you need to return them

Whilst you are away:

1. Check your Library Record regularly to see when your books are due back
2. Please check your Aston email frequently to renew or return recalled books
3. Check details of the SCONUL Access Summer Vacation scheme if you would like to use another UK academic library.

If a book does get recalled, then you will need to return it to the Library in person or by post. 

Please be aware that fines of £3.50 apply per day if the book is returned after the new due date in the email recall notification. 

We are sure we will continue to see some of you during this period and in the meantime we will also be busy preparing for the new academic session.

Best regards
Library Public Services Team