Events by month

Has someone blogged about your research? Has someone tweeted about your work? Was your article mentioned on Facebook? Representing the concept alternate (or alternative) metrics, altmetrics encompass methods of evaluating and discovering scholarly work through the use of open data and social media sources.

As an introduction to the still-evolving field of altmetrics, this workshop will explore:

Learn to navigate the world of government information!  Improve your government information searching skills and ability to find various reports, policies, regulations, and more. In addition, we will show you how to discover research institutes and think tanks.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

Find Canadian parliamentary and non-parliamentary government documents using library catalogue and the Canadian Research Index database

Find federal and provincial documents online

Finding conference proceedings can be tricky! This hands-on session will introduce you to deciphering conference proceedings citations and provide you with the tools to navigate the often complicated search process.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to

Ever wanted to try Open Source GIS but didn’t know where to start? Here you will learn how Open Source compares to the “Big Guy’s”. This workshop builds on “Getting Started with ArcGIS” (a recommended prerequisite for those with no previous GIS experience) but isn’t absolutely necessary. This workshop introduces users to a different environment to create maps with GIS. 

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

Understand what QGIS is and it’s capabilities

Academic research is challenging because there is no one-size-fits-all solution for searching. In this 50 minute hands-on workshop, you’ll learn about and apply reliable tips and tools to help you find the best articles on your topic. You’ll also learn how to problem solve disappointing database search results.

By the end of the workshop you will be able to:

This Reading Week go on a literary adventure. The Library has arranged a selection of mysterious books for you to take out and unwrap.

GIS are powerful tools that can create “maps” quite quickly.  With great power comes great responsibility. This session will cover cartographic and design principals using ArcGIS in an effort to minimize bias and confusion when presenting spatial data. This workshop builds on “Getting Started with ArcGIS” (a recommended prerequisite for those with no previous GIS experience).

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

Create a map with all required elements for presentation

You may have heard of GIS, but what exactly is it, and more importantly, how can you use it in your own research and academic work? This introductory workshop presents the basic concepts of GIS and will teach you the skills you need to find geospatial data, map it, and discover new dimensions of information.

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

LIB 004: Evaluating Information

How can you be sure that the resources you’re using are appropriate for university-level assignments? This 50 minute workshop combines activities and discussions to guide you through the process of critically evaluating resources and authors to determine their credibility. 

By the end of the workshop you will be able to:

Hear briefly from the Office of Academic Integrity about why you need to reference your sources. Then learn how to manage your references, create bibliographies, and format your papers in a variety of citation styles from a liaison librarian using RefWorks, a web-based citation software freely available to all UWaterloo students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

By the end of this workshop, you will

All peer reviewed papers resulting from NSERC, SSHRC, or CIHR grants awarded from May 1, 2015 on need to be freely available within one year of publication. Attend this 50 minute session for an overview of the new policy and to learn about resources that can help you comply. Hear firsthand experience of making an article Open Access and bring your questions!

Register for this workshop.

Is there a researcher whose work you would like to follow? Who else is interested in the research papers relevant to your research? Could they be potential collaborators or competitors? 

By the end of this workshop you will:

Do you have a very common last name?  Do you use the same format for your name for all of your papers? Is your work being attributed to someone else? Can others find your work easily?

By the end of this workshop you will: