Research Skills Workshops

This guided tour introduces you to the library spaces, services, and online tools available to support your academic success. Participants will explore a library location, learn how to navigate the library website, access their library account, discover workshops and events, and find the services and resources available across all Western Libraries.

*Check the Western Libraries' Events page to see which library you will tour and where it begins.

Library Locations

• The D.B. Weldon Library
• Allyn and Betty Taylor Library

Learning Outcomes

• Identify key services, spaces, and support available through Western Libraries.
• Access your library account and other online resources using Western Libraries’ website.
• Locate physical materials at the library and borrow them using self-checkout stations.

This workshop teaches you how to successfully conduct an academic literature search. Learn how scholars disseminate their work, where to find their publications, and how to critically interrogate their conclusions.

Learning Outcomes

• Design a focused research question with precise keywords.
• Conduct a literature search using library catalogues and databases.
• Evaluate scholarly resources and the process of peer review.

This workshop explores the advantages of reference management tools. Beyond quickly generating citations, reference managers allow one to construct a library of references, notes, digital objects, internet links, and files in one place for efficient retrieval. While there are many reference mangers to choose from, this workshop focuses on Zotero.

Learning outcomes

• Identify the benefits of reference managers.
• Build your own library using Zotero.
• Use reference managers for proper citation practices.

This workshop will cover the basics of conducting a systematic and scoping reviews and will identify tools and resources that can support both review processes. Attendees will learn how systematic and scoping reviews are defined and characterized, and steps to take before starting a review process, including the development of a protocol.

Learning Outcomes

• Recognize the difference between systematic and scoping reviews.
• Discern whether a systematic or scoping review is the proper synthesis for your research.
• Build a research plan for conducting a systematic or scoping review.
• Create and publish a protocol.

This workshop explores how AI tools can be used for literature searching. It looks at the difference between AI chatbots, search engines, and academic search engines before offering some strategies for finding scholarly sources with them. Learn about prompt engineering, bogus citations, and the limitations of AI tools as they relate to academic publishing and the larger information ecosystem.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify AI tools and how they can be used for literature searching.
• Craft effective prompts that are clear, concise, and logical.
• Recognize hallucinations, specifically counterfeit citations.
• Explain some of the ethical implications and limitations of AI tools.

This workshop offers tips on how to perform research after graduation. With your degree in hand, you lose access to subscription databases, journals, and other electronic resources. But since many sectors of the job market rely on academic research, it is necessary to develop strategies to locate high-quality information. Learn how to navigate libraries outside of the academy and some of the freely available digital tools you can use to access scholarly sources.

Learning Outcomes

• Explain the barriers to accessing high-quality information.
• Identify freely available tools to locate scholarly research.

This workshop looks at digitized primary sources. Finding these materials takes practice and requires multiple strategies in a range of repositories, many of which are searchable online today. Learn strategies for finding digitized primary sources and be inspired to do further research in libraries and archives. 

Learning outcomes

• Identify the types of primary sources availale in digital formats.
• Establish strategies to locate digitized primary sources using library resources.
• Develop strategies to locate digitized primary sources using the internet.

This workshop surveys how researchers use newspapers, which offer varying perspectives on current affairs at the local level and on a global scale. While finding these sources can be tricky as some are only available in print form or on microfilm, many are searchable in both open access and subscription databases. Learn how to search for both contemporary and historical newspapers in libraries, archives, and online.

Learning outcomes

• Identifying the potential and limitations of newsparpers as primary sources. 
• Incorporate newspapers into your teaching and research. 
• Develop strategies for finding and evaluating newspapers. 

This workshop explains the role book reviews play in academic publishing, research, and teaching. Hundreds of thousands of books are published every year, but only a small portion receive critical reviews. Thanks to the Internet, more books are being reviewed beyond magazines and journals. Learn about the importance of book reviews and how they shape scholarship and what we read.

Learning outcomes

• Identify the role book reviews play in academic publishing.
• Incorporate book reviews into your research and teaching.
• Develop strategies for locating and evaluating book reviews.

This workshop provides tips on how to navigate collections of art images, which include galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. Art images are widely available online today, but many of them are low quality and lack detailed descriptions. Learn how to locate original pieces of artwork and high-quality reproductions, their potential for research and teaching, and how to use them legally according to Canadian copyright law.

Learning Outcomes

• Locate online (free or licenced) and physical collections of art.
• Explain copyright and licencing issues associated with art images.

This workshop offers an overview of sources of musical knowledge, including recordings, manuscripts, scores, and more. Locating these types of sources has its own unique challenges, which is why focussed search strategies are useful. Learn about different platforms to help you locate research materials on specific musicians and musical genres and pieces.

Learning Outcomes

• Develop search strategies to locate music sources.
• Explain copyright and licensing concerns associated with music sources.

We may live in an information society, but so much of what we see, read, and hear is dominated by socially privileged perspectives. This workshop teaches you to recognize the implicit biases built into social media, search engines, generative AI algorithms, and even into academic research. We explore how white, male, English-speaking, hetero, and cisgender identities are considered the default by the tools we use every day and the consequences of these biases. This workshop is part 1 of our series on knowledge justice. 

Learning outcomes

• Identify examples of knowledge injustice in digital media,algorithms, and scholarship.
• Critically reflect on how social identities influence social media feeds and academic search results and can result in an "echo chamber".
• Discuss the impacts that knowledge injustices have on our university education.

These are several inherent biases in social media, search engines, generative AI algorithms, and even academic research. In this workshop, we explore four strategies that work around these biases and help us practice knowlege justice. We practice critical self-reflection, work to identify whether we are in an information "echo chamber", and discuss using inclusive terminology to find those voices and perspectives missing from our feeds and reference lists. This workshop is part 2 of our series on knowledge justice. 

Learning outcomes

• Consider where out ideas come from and how they are shaped by biased or limited perspectives. 
• Identify strategies that help us practice knowledge justice, including self-reflection, identifying missing and diverse voices, using inclusive keywords, and strategic searching.

How should we approach the dark side of the internet, where individuals are purposefully trying to mislead, influence, and harm other people? How much do we know about the people whose posts we "like" online and how critical have we been about our reference lists? In this workshop, we practice act checking sources, working to identify the bias of their creators and how they are misinformed or causing harm. We also consider how to build a collection of diverse, inclusive sources, also known as citation justice. This workshop is part 3 of our series on knowledge justice. 

Learning outcomes

• Analyze sources for bias and impact and consider creator positionality and reputation.
• Evaluate sources for breadth, perspective, and epistemology, and ensure they are not harmful, culturally appropriated, or false.

This workshop analyzes racial bias in reference lists notes, what has come to be known as the "politics of citations". Since library catalogues and databases generally do not provide metadata on race, gender, and ethnicity, how is it possible to discover multiple perspectives? Learn about how academic libraries are organized and strategies to develop more inclusive citation practices. 

Learning outcomes

• Review the role of citations in academic research. 
• Articulate how the politics of citations influences scholarship. 
• Develop strategies for finding sources that reflect multiple perspectives.

Learning Outcomes

Written something you are proud of and want to share it with the world? Just generally curious as to how articles that you have read got published? Wherever you are at, this session will walk you through some of the behind-the-scenes processes that go into getting academic work published, like choosing a journal and the peer-review process.

• Explain various peer review processes.
• Differentiate between closed access and open access publishing.
• Navigate journal websites to find submission requirements and journal policies.

Publishing scholarly work is a key expectation for researchers, but navigating the scholarly publishing process is not always straightforward. In this session, you will learn how to navigate the peer review process, and various tools and strategies for identifying suitable, high-quality journals for your work. The session will also include a discussion about publishing fees, specifically ways to offset and/or avoid them altogether. You will also gain insight into your intellectual property rights as an author.

Learning Outcomes

• Learn how peer review works.
• Identify tools and strategies for locating journals for submission.
• Gain a clear understanding of publishing models, with a focus on Open Access.
• Determine your rights as an author and the basics of copyright and Creative Commons licenses.

As a member of Western University, you have free access to Pressbooks, a platform for publishing e-books such as Open Educational Resources (OERs), traditional textbooks, exhibits, and open access books. This workshop introduces the Pressbooks platform and explains how you can use it to meet your project goals. There is time for attendees to access and explore the platform themselves.

Learning outcomes

• Create a Pressbooks account.
• Use the Pressbooks editor.
• Create an e-book with Pressbooks.

This workshop looks at how to create and maintain a digital scholarly identity. There are several author identifiers like ORCID, ResearcherID, Scopus Author ID, and Google Scholar Profile and author profiles with academic social networking sites like ResearchGate and Academia.edu. Learn how to control information about you online, promote your work, and collaborate with others in your field.

Learning Outcomes

• Explain why it is important to create and maintain a digital scholarly identity.
• Identify different types of author identifiers like ORCID.
• Recognize the disadvantages of academic social networking sites.

The Canadian Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy, released early in 2021, introduced new requirements for researchers applying for grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

This workshop covers these new requirements, teaches you about the most important elements of a data management plan, and discusses data sharing and archiving. This workshop also introduces a new Western-customized assistant for writing Data Management Plans that will help you choose the most appropriate, locally supported technologies.

Learning outcomes

• Use data management language to strengthen grant applications.
• Create a basic data management plan.
• Access tools and supports for data management at Western.

Western Libraries provides access to Borealis, a publicly accessible, secure Canadian data repository system using Dataverse software for sharing and archiving data. This workshop provides an overview of the benefits and uses of Borealis, including the options for releasing and sharing data openly or privately with precision at the file level.

Learning outcomes

• Use provided tools to create an archive and get a DOI.
• Add, share, and restrict files.
• Create metadata and publish data and documents.

This workshop introduces some of the basics of handling data for research projects, including planning a data project, file organization, documentation, and setting up data for analysis in Excel. We will also learn some tips for using Excel more easily.

Learning outcomes

• Use standard Excel features to organize and manipulate data.
• Organize spreadsheet data to reduce future errors and ease later analysis.

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is a popular package for analyzing data. This workshop demonstrates the basics of using SPSS, including using SPSS for data entry, reading in different types of data, getting summary statistics, creating, and modifying variables, creating graphs, and running simple analyses.

Learning outcomes

• Use SPSS to get descriptive statistics and run simple analyses.
• Create, edit, and modify variables.
• Interpret quantitative output.

NVivo is a tool for organizing, managing, and analyzing qualitative data. This workshop provides an overview of NVivo's capabilities and demonstrates how to use it to get started on a qualitative research project. Learn about the capabilities of this popular analysis package, how to set up a project, and import different kinds of data and start coding.

Learning outcomes

• Create a NVivo project and import different types of data. 
• Organize and classify files and cases.
• Code data and create notes and memos.
• Run queries, create charts, and plan a content analysis.

This workshop explores how research questions can be answered using data resources, such as secondary data collected from agencies such as Statistics Canada. Learn about the differences between microdata and statistics and how to locate and download statistical or summary data.

Learning outcomes

• Identify Western's data collections.
• Differentiate between data and statistics.
• Develop an understanding of data as a research resource.

This workshop provides an overview of licensed data sources that Western Libraries provides access to, as well as, open / free data sources. International data sources, Canadian data, including Statistics Canada data, and collections of opinion polls are part of our offerings. Guidance on where to find data is part of the overview.

Learning outcomes

• Identify Western's data collections.
• Differentiate between data and statistics.
• Describe how data sources are used in research.

Statistics Canada Data products are valuable resources for research and teaching. Western provides access to a range of data files and products with differing levels of confidentiality and geography. These files and products are used to teach data literacy, statistical methods, and to combine population, health, income, and economic data with researcher collected sources.

In this workshop, participants will learn about the range of products and access methods available to them at Western. Specific access methods include the Statistics Canada public data site, the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) program, the Research Data Centre (RDC) program, and the Real Time Remote Access (RTRA) program.

Learning outcomes

• Identify open data sources and data that has been made available as public.
• Identify when public data meets researcher needs.
• Recognize what confidential data is and when a researcher would need to investigate access.
• Articulate when and how to apply for access to confidential (master) Statistics Canada Data.

Take ownership of your corner of the web—outside of corporate platforms. The handcrafted web and zine-inspired web movement are part of a growing countercultural pushback against the slick, corporate, and algorithm-driven nature of the modern internet. Learn how to build and publish your own small, handmade website using HTML, CSS, and Neocities—a free, user-friendly platform that supports creative, low-tech web development. This workshop will guide you through the basics of structuring a webpage, styling it with CSS, and uploading your site to Neocities. No prior coding experience needed—just a willingness to tinker and create.

Learning outcomes

• Understand the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Participate in creating and publishing a simple webpage.
• Recognize copyright and Creative Commons licences.

This workshop introduces participants to the material techniques early modern writers used to protect privacy before the invention of the envelope. Through close observation and guided reconstruction, attendees will examine how folds, slits, and seals functioned as both security devices and meaning-making elements. The workshop combines brief historical context with hands-on practice, inviting participants to “read” letters not just for text, but for structure and intent. No prior experience is required.

Learning outcomes

• Identify common letterlocking techniques used in early modern correspondence and explain their functions in securing privacy.
• Reconstruct selected historical letterlocking formats to better understand authorial intent and epistolary practice.
• Engage with making and thinking practices to explore Digital Humanities research methods.

Step into the glittering world of medieval manuscripts in this hands-on workshop focused on illumination. Begin with a "rare book petting zoo," where you will explore manuscripts from Western Libraries' special collections up close to see how gold was used to illuminate the page. Then, try your hand at applying gold leaf to your own decorative initial. Whether you are a book lover, artist, or curious beginner, this workshop offers a creative way to connect with the past—no experience required.

Learning outcomes

• Identify the use and visual impact of gold leaf in illuminated manuscripts.
• Engage with rare books to explore historical examples of illumination.
• Apply gold leaf to a simple design as part of a hands-on creative activity.

This hands-on workshop explores the pamphlet as a publishing form that bridges traditional print culture and open access values. Participants will design, print, and bind their own short pamphlet while reflecting on the role of independent publishing in expanding access to knowledge. We will consider historical pamphlets, zines, and digital DIY publishing as models for sharing research and creative work beyond conventional academic channels. Space is limited to 15 people.

Learning outcomes

• Recognize the historical role of pamphlets in traditional and alternative publishing.
• Describe how pamphlets support open access and public scholarship.
• Design and produce a printed pamphlet using simple tools.
• Reflect on how format, audience, and distribution affect scholarly communication.