The workshops listed here are available by request for graduate courses, graduate student study groups, research teams, faculty meetings, departmental events, etc. Workshops have been developed at the graduate student level, but can be adapted for an undergraduate audience by request.
Please note that workshop requests require a two-week lead time and are dependent on the availability of the instructor to teach at the requested time.
To request a workshop or for more information, please submit our request form and a librarian will follow-up with you. We look forward to working with you!
General research skills
Citation Management (Zotero)
This workshop is available at two levels:
Introduction to Zotero: In this workshop you will learn how to use Zotero to collect and organize resources and to automatically format citations for your project.
Advanced bibliographic management: This workshop moves beyond the basics of Zotero. In this workshop you will learn to...
- use tags or organize your resources across multiple projects
- write notes in markdown for easier reference
- organize research notes to support effective writing
Discipline-Specific Databases
This workshop can be requested for a variety of databases including JSTOR, Web of Science, and Scopus. Please get in touch if there’s a specific database you’re interested in. In the workshop, we’ll provide an overview of your chosen database and introduce strategies for getting the most of out the resource and navigating the literature in your field.
Conducting Literature Reviews
Learn strategies for preparing for and conducting a literature review, including:
- Identifying an entry point into the scholarly conversation
- Choosing keywords and conducting searches
- Finding, organizing and managing sources
- Organizing your lit review
Graduate Student Research Essentials
In this workshop, we will discuss best practices for graduate research and some of our favorite resources for research, including citation management and how to access resources beyond Tufts' libraries.
Using Artificial Intelligence Tools for Academic Research
AI is popping up in every part of life. Love it or hate it, graduate students can benefit from knowing what tools might have useful research applications. We'll cover some of these options and talk about how to approach AI with critical thinking.
Numbers That Matter: Finding Data for Graduate Research
This workshop will introduce you to major sources of data and provide strategies for finding and evaluating discipline-specific data and statistics, including government data. Please note that data visualization and data analysis will not be covered in this session.
Introduction to Archival Research
Have you ever felt lost when trying to find primary sources for an assignment? Have you ever wondered how the histories of organizations and communities are preserved? This workshop will explore how archival sources can enhance your research, why searching in libraries and archives is so different, and what to expect when you visit an archive.
Managing and sharing your research
Data Management Fundamentals
Are you managing data for a research project and feeling overwhelmed? Learn tips & techniques for organizing your data from Tisch's research data librarian. This workshop will touch on folder structures, file naming, metadata, and more.
Writing your NSF Data Management and Sharing Plan
Note that this workshop can also be requested for other funder’s data management plans.
All NSF proposals must include a two-page Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP), outlining how your research data will be managed, shared, and preserved. This workshop will cover the general NSF guidelines for writing a DMSP, directorate/division-specific guidance, and how to use DMPTool to find DMSP templates. We’ll discuss your options for meeting NSF data sharing requirements, as well as best practices that can enhance your plan.
Sharing Your Work: Copyright, Publishing & Increasing Your Impact
An introduction to sharing your academic work, with the goal of making your research and scholarship widely available & increasing your scholarly impact. Learn about:
- the importance of copyright
- how to choose a journal to publish in
- open access options
- how to evaluate a publisher's contract
- how to exercise your rights to use, share, and distribute your work
Conference Poster Design: Exploring Principles & Formats
An interactive session on elements and principles of poster design. Additionally, we'll be looking at different formats and the reasons you might chose one or the other, from the standard paper-on-a-page to emerging formats including visual abstracts that focus on networking or quickly spreading ideas. This session will focus on design strategies for scientific conference posters, but these strategies are applicable for other disciplines as well. These principles are applicable regardless of what software you design in (or even non-digital design), such as the easy-to-use, free, web-based application Canva.
Designing Slides & Presentation Visuals
You have a presentation coming up. You’ve dusted up your talking points and rehearsed what you’re going to say. But you’re concerned about the visual aid for your presentation—does it look good? Will it convey your message? Maybe it’s a slide deck. Maybe it’s a poster. Maybe it’s a physical object, or writing on a whiteboard. Maybe you haven’t even decided if you’re going to have a visual aid at all. Whatever visual aid you’re using, making it effective and appealing starts by understanding the goals a visual aid can serve—and how those goals can be served by principles of visual design and audience learning. During this workshop on visual design for presentations, we'll explore different visual styles, sketch out draft ideas, and (briefly) discover some digital tools to make it easier to put your vision on paper. Our primary focus will be on slide decks, though we’ll discuss poster design throughout as well.
Podcasting as Public Scholarship
Podcasts can be a way of engaging public audiences with your research interests. During this workshop, we’ll help you to conceptualize podcasting as a form of public scholarship, and walk through the process of starting a podcast. After this orientation, you will know:
- How to recognize different podcast styles used by scholars
- Steps of producing a podcast, including gear, software, and setting up your RSS Feed at Tufts
- What support Tisch Library’s Digital Design Studio can offer you
Designing Your Online Scholarly Presence
Your online presence tells a story about you to peers, collaborators, institutions and employers. In this workshop, we'll discuss how you can curate that online identity to tell the story that you want. We'll consider your goals for your online scholarly presence; look at what types of things your presence could include, such as shared publications & data, a website, social media, and researcher identifiers like ORCID; and steps to build the presence that you want.
Submitting your Thesis or Dissertation to ProQuest
In this workshop you will learn the formatting fundamentals for submitting your thesis or dissertation to ProQuest. Additionally, you will learn about embargoes, open access options, and other relevant copyright considerations as they relate to theses/dissertations.