Library news

Searching the literature systematically when doing reviews can strike terror into the hearts of experienced researchers. How do I know I have found everything out there? What if I get a million results? 

Never fear, the library is here to help! We are running a series of five 2 hour online workshops on searching for scoping, systematic and other types of reviews. They are for HDR candidates, supervisors, academics and professional staff from any discipline. They are designed to give hands on practice and experience with searching systematically for reviews. Tackle scary systematic searching with the library to lead you! 

Each workshop will use a flipped classroom, in which you will be expected to engage with Moodle content such as readings, videos and activities prior to the workshop. This will contain the relevant information, and the workshops will then focus on hands on practice, group activities and discussions that assume you have engaged with the Moodle content. You will receive an email with the link to self-enroll in the Moodle shell after registration. Set a good example for your students!   

Because of the practical nature of these workshops, they will not be recorded. They will be repeated at a later date.  

You can either register for the entire series, or individual workshops. If you wish to attend multiple workshops, you need to register for each one separately. Registrations will close one week before each workshop to ensure you have time to engage with the Moodle content. Because of the limited places available, if you are no longer able to attend a workshop you have registered for, please cancel your registration so that those on the waiting list can attend.  

Register on the Research Training and Development calendar using your Federation email, or use the links below in the workshop information. For more information, please contact Erin Roga: e.roga@federation.edu.au 

The workshops are:  

1. ---

   Planning the search: Thu 31 Oct 9:30-11:30 

This online workshop is about planning a comprehensive, systematic search strategy for a review to ensure that all relevant articles are found. You will learn about:

• Creating search concepts from the review question 
• Choosing appropriate limits and filters  
• Using known papers to identify relevant keywords

2. ---

   Developing the search: Thu 7 Nov 9:30-11:30 

This online workshop is about developing comprehensive search terms from the chosen search concepts. You will learn about:  

• Finding subject headings and keywords for search concepts

3. ---

   Putting together the search: Thu 14 Nov 9:30-11:30 

This online workshop is about correctly combining the search terms to ensure that all potentially relevant articles are found. You will learn about:  

• Combining search terms using advanced operators 

4. ---

   Testing and translating the search: Thu 28 Nov 9:30-11:30 

This online workshop is about testing the search strategy to make sure it will provide the expected results, and translating it to work in different databases. You will learn about:

• Testing the search strategy and correcting errors  
• Translating the search for different databases 

5. ---

   Extending and reporting the search: Thu 5 Dec 9:30-11:30 

This online workshop is about extending the search strategy to find grey literature, and reporting the search methods thoroughly. You will learn about: 

• Finding grey literature 
• Reporting the search