Working on an assignment over the holiday?

Some of you will have assignment deadlines in January and will be working hard over the Christmas holiday period researching information and writing up your essays and reports.  The University Buildings are closed from the 23rd December 2017 and re-open from the 2nd of January 2018 but you can access information 24/7.

Where can you find information?

Start with your reading list.  Go to your module on Blackboard and find the link on the menu page called Readings.  This will link through to your My Module Reading List.  Check out the relevant sections in the textbooks that might help with your assessment and view the "Further Reading" at the end of the chapter(s).  This usually recommends other books or journal articles that you can read.

Then use Library SmartSearch.  This is a search engine that allows you to search across the books and journal articles in our Library.  You can use the search box to find a particular book or journal article title but you can also search across the collections by topic.  If you are looking for articles on a topic then use the Advanced Search feature to allow you to type in your key search terms.




 Looking for other types of information...you may find the subject LibGuides a useful place to look.  The LibGuides provide access to individual research databases covering a wide

range of subject areas including industry reports, standards, statistics, company profiles, financial data, case studies and much more.

The Great Library Brain Boost
In Week 6 and 7 of the academic term, the Library Information Services Team provided a workshop programme to support students through their first assessments across the Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes.  

You can review the presentation slides and in a lot of cases there are also lecture recordings via the The Great Library Brain Boost LibGuide .  Some of the highlights include:

• Strictly Business Data - finding company and industry reports​
• Advanced Literature Searching
• Getting more out of Google    

Information Specialists
You can also contact your Information Specialists for advice on talking through your assessment task, finding different kinds of information sources and evaluating information to add in to you essays and reports.  There is an Information Specialist for each School and the names and contact details are available from the LibGuides and the Library contact pages 

Finally...
If you have a question while the Library Building is closed over the vacation, please try viewing the Ask the Library Frequently Asked Questions or browse the Library website for information and advice.

Good Luck everyone.

The Great Library Brain Boost

Are you worrying about finding information for your module assessments?  Would you like some hints and tips on how to find journal articles, industry reports or academic work on Google?  Then you need the Great Library Brain Boost...

View the Library Services Brain Boosting Workshop Programme for a full description of the workshops on offer and information on how to book.  All workshops will be in week beginning 6th November, 2017 and will be located in the Library Building, 2nd floor L215 or L216.
Come and meet your Library team and we will do our best to help you find relevant, quality formation.

Library Workshop Programme 2017

The Library Workshop Programme contains 1 hour practical workshops focusing on general information literacy skills

For the full 2017 programme, see below.

Programme

Title	Abstract		Review the content
Strictly Business Data - finding	The workshop will focus on the business research databases available at Aston University and how you can use them to research for company profiles, market context, competitor insight, future trends analysis, SWOT analysis and industry reports.	Monday 6th November 13:00-14:00 Nicola Dennis	Book Now
Advanced Literature Searching	Are you having difficulty finding good quality academic sources to use in your assignments? This session, primarily aimed at undergraduates, will help you get the most of Smartsearch and point you in the direction of other useful databases and sources of information. We will cover; • Decide where to find the best research • Think about keywords • Devise a search strategy that works • Start finding resources you’ll use • Know where else to go for help	Monday 6th   November 17:00-18:00 Richard Hopkins	Book Now
Fake News	In this session you will learn how to find reliable information when researching, how to evaluate your sources, and how to separate fake from actual news.	Tuesday 7th  November 12:00-13:00 Kerstin Treder	Book Now
Cite it! Sort it! Making Endnote work for you	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.	Tuesday 7th November 13:00-14:00 Clare Langman	Book Now
Getting more out of Google	There are tricks to getting more out of your Google search. You probably know the basics, such as searching for exact phrases using quotations marks, but what about the more complex stuff? The session will look at advanced operators, additional tools and why you shouldn't say "I found the answer on Google".	Tuesday 7th November 17:00-18:00 Sarah Akhtaruzzaman	Book Now
Getting more out of Google	There are tricks to getting more out of your Google search. You probably know the basics, such as searching for exact phrases using quotations marks, but what about the more complex stuff? The session will look at advanced operators, additional tools and why you shouldn't say "I found the answer on Google".	Wednesday 8th November 12:00-13:00 Sarah Akhtaruzzaman	Book Now
Strictly Business Data	The workshop will focus on the business research databases available at Aston University and how you can use them to research for company profiles, market context, competitor insight, future trends analysis, SWOT analysis and industry reports.	Thursday 9th November 12:00-13:00 Nicola Dennis	Book Now
Cite it! Sort it! Making Endnote work for you	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.	Thursday 9th November 13:00-14:00 Clare Langman	Book Now
Assignment Surgery	Come along to this informal session with any questions you may have on searching for information for your assignments, referencing or how to structure your assignments.	Friday 10th  November 12:00-13:00 Nicola Dennis Clare Langman LDC - Learning Advisor	Book Now
Advanced Literature Searching	Are you having difficulty finding good quality academic sources to use in your assignments? This session, primarily aimed at undergraduates, will help you get the most of Smartsearch and point you in the direction of other useful databases and sources of information. We will cover; • Decide where to find the best research • Think about keywords • Devise a search strategy that works • Start finding resources you’ll use • Know where else to go for help	Friday 10 th November 13:00-14:00 Richard Hopkins	Book Now

 
Have a question? Would like more information? Have a suggestion for a library workshop?  Contact library@aston.ac.uk or use Ask the Library.

We look forward to meeting you
Information Services Team

Library Workshop Programme - view the presentations

The Library Information Services Team prepared a workshop programme for you focusing on researching employers, literature searching, reference tools and finding statistics.

The Information Services Team are your Information Specialists:
Richard Hopkins, Clare Langman, Nicola Dennis and Kerstin Treder.                 

The workshops were for any student and the full programme included

• Introduction to free referencing tools          
• Beyond Google                                            
• EndNote                                                       
• Researching employers for job hunting   
• Introduction to finding statistics    
• Advanced Literature Searching                                                        

Presentation slides, recordings and workshop activity sheets are available to view via the Programme details web site

*New Library Workshop Programme* out now

http://libguides.aston.ac.uk/infolitworkshops

Watch all the Research Bites 2014 on Aston Replay

Research Bites 2014 were a success! The short, informal seminars held on Wednesdays throughout July and August featured topics relevant to researchers at all levels. Every seminar was captured by Aston Replay and they are all now available to watch online.

Follow the links below to access the Aston Replay recordings, PowerPoint slides (annotated in many cases) and further information (including how each seminar maps to vitae's Researcher Development Framework) for each of the topics:

• Level Up: enhance your literature searching
• Measuring Research Impact
• Distinguish yourself: get an ORCiD
• Open Access publishing – an important growth area at Aston
• Safeguarding Research Data
• Get more citations: strategies for increasing the visibility of your work
• What’s new? Getting the most from SCOPUS and Web of Science
• Cite it! Sort it! EndNote it!

If you have any feedback on these seminars or further questions about any of these topics, contact your Information Specialist.  

Research Bites 2014 announced!

The programme for the Research Bites 2014 seminars has now been announced. These short, informal seminars will be held in the Library 2nd Floor Workshop A on Wednesdays at 1pm throughout July and August, and feature topics relevant to researchers at all levels. 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.

Topics for this year's seminars include:

• Distinguish yourself: get an ORCiD
• Open Access publishing – an important growth area at Aston
• Get more citations: strategies for increasing the visibility of your work
• Cite it! Sort it! EndNote it!
• Level Up: enhance your literature searching
• Safeguarding Research Data

You can find the full programme and more details about each topic on the Research Bites 2014 webpage.

Need help looking for information? Try our LibGuides...

Have you been set an assignment?  Starting a literature review?  Preparing a presentation?  Take a look at the LibGuides prepared by your team of Information Specialists.

LibGuides are a series of webpages that provide information and links to books, journals, databases and webpages you can use to research your subject area.

You can access the LibGuides via the Library homepage by choosing the icon at the bottom right of the screen.  You can also view all the LibGuides via the Library SmartSearch link
You can choose any subject area from the list and you will be taken to the subject Welcome page.  The LibGuide will suggest the databases to use to find journal articles, e-books, company information, datasets, market reports, newspapers, country profiles, industry analysis and much more.  Just click the tabs along the top of the guide for more information



Have a browse and see if LibGuides can help you discover something new!

Information Services Team