Online Training and Workshops: Home

Please use the white buttons below to filter by particular skill.

How to get extra time in exams (in-person)

This workshop by the team who look after exam adjustments is for anyone who has a learning need or a medical need, mental health condition or disability that impacts their studies and exams. Reasonable adjustments don’t continue automatically when you start at university. Find out how to get adjustments such as extra time, rest breaks, a location other than a big exam hall, a reader or a scribe and more. We will explain what evidence you need, how to get it, how to share it with us and how adjustments are reviewed and agreed (and deadlines). We will explain the difference between interim (temporary) and permanent exam adjustments. We’ll also talk about what to do if you don’t have evidence right now

How to get extra time in exams (online)

This workshop by the team who look after exam adjustments is for anyone who has a learning need or a medical need, mental health condition or disability that impacts their studies and exams. Reasonable adjustments don’t continue automatically when you start at university. Find out how to get adjustments such as extra time, rest breaks, a location other than a big exam hall, a reader or a scribe and more. We will explain what evidence you need, how to get it, how to share it with us and how adjustments are reviewed and agreed (and deadlines). We will explain the difference between interim (temporary) and permanent exam adjustments. We’ll also talk about what to do if you don’t have evidence right now

Finding information for your assignment

This is a session to go over resources for finding information that can be used for your assignments at university, recognising where and how that information can be found online. 

Systematic reviews: searching the literature (health)

This 90 minute session will introduce the literature search methodology for undertaking a systematic review in the health disciplines. 

Copyright and your thesis

In this workshop we will cover, etheses and open licences, and how to use content legally in your thesis with copyright exceptions or clearance. You will also learn how to reuse your publications and avoid self-plagiarism. There will be time at the end of the workshop to ask questions. 

Systematic reviews: searching the literature (generic)

This 90 minute session will introduce the literature search methodology for undertaking a systematic review in the non-health disciplines. 

Making the most of Open Access publishing: Q&A

This session will include a short introduction to open access publishing followed by a Q&A session so that we can cover the areas that interest you. We can discuss types of open access, funder policies, uploading your journal articles to our institutional repository, publisher deals, finding open access material and anything else you would like to ask.

Introduction to assessing research using metrics

The session will provide an introduction to bibliometrics & the University's Responsible Metrics Policy, provide guidance on how to use the digital tools available  and have time for questions. Please can attendees have a title of one of their/their supervisor's articles (preferably a few months old) to hand to use in the digital tool section.

Revision (Student Disability and Inclusion)

This workshop will explore a range of revision strategies and preparation methods for exams. The aim of the workshop is to support you to create a revision process which works for you. This can help to build your confidence and reduce overwhelm in the run up to the exam period. There will be opportunities to ask questions and share experiences with others, in a small, informal group setting. The workshop will take place virtually via MS Teams.

Access MyCareer for all upcoming events and workshops related to Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise

MyCareer is your one-stop shop for events, career advice and top graduate jobs. Includes workshops on CV writing, Personal statements, Applications, Assessments, Work experience and Employability. Search by subject, date and location to find the most relevant information for you.

Book an Ask the Adviser appointment for a 10 minute conversation to chat about anything careers related. Appointments are available in person (at Highfield Campus, the Sir James Matthews Building and Winchester School of Art) and online (through Microsoft Teams).

Academic Centre for International Students English for Academic Purposes support

The EAP skills support programme offers academic language support to international students who need to develop their English language and academic literacy skills during their studies.

Access Student Disability and Inclusion support for a range of events and workshops designed for students with an SpLD

The Student Disability and Inclusion Team present a series of Group Workshops throughout the year which are provided for students with a wide range of specific learning differences, disabilities and neurodiverse conditions. For some sessions you do not need a formal diagnosis to join the workshops. Check the Student Disability & Wellbeing events page to book a workshop.  Further details around locations and times will be provided at the time of booking.

Accessing your library resources  - using Library Search

You can find out more information on how to find print books, ebooks, reading lists, journal articles and how to use your library account on our Library Search help page which contains 3 short videos (total viewing time 17 mins)

• Search for books, ebooks and reading lists (7.42 min)
• Search for journal articles (5.16 mins)
• Manage your account (4.32 mins)

Please email us at libenqs@soton.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Assistive Technology

These short videos created by Enabling Services showcase a variety of Assistive Technology software that will help support your studies. Included are tips on how to use the software to plan and organise your work; how to read and proofread effectively; how to take notes and present, and how to use a selection of speech to text software

Basic Literature Searching Techniques (Health Sciences and Medicine)

This short recording will help you to identify suitable databases for your assignments, and develop a search strategy. Using the database CINAHL, you will learn how to use Boolean operators and syntax to create an effective search.

Advanced Literature Searching Techniques (Health and Medicine)

This short recording will help you understand how to find Subject Headings (MESH) to help improve your search strategy using the CINAHL database. Please view the Basic recording first.

British Standards Online

FAQs on how to search and access the full text of all current British Standards and many international standards (e.g. ISOs/IECs).

Bob National (Box of Broadcasts)

A set of video guides which take you through the basics of using this off-air recording and media archive service.

CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature)

Available through CINAHL's platform provider EBSCO, these video guides demonstrate basic and advanced search techniques. CINAHL provides authoritative coverage of the literature related to midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry, health education and other related subject areas

Citation searching

Find out how you can use citation searching to determine how many time a particular article has been cited.

Collecting data

Learning objectives: Design a questionnaire to collect data, Identify appropriate questions to provide you with the most relevant data, Question types, layout, delivery

Compendex

Watch the 'Get started with Compendex' video for help with finding the latest engineering information across electrical, chemical, civil, mechanical, mining and other cross-disciplinary areas. Also, take a look at the tutorials on using Engineering Village as this shares the same platform as Compendex.

Coping with change

Sometimes it can be challenging to manage changes or transitions, even if the change is positive. This presentation contains strategies to help you cope with change.

Coping with exam anxiety

Find out more information about what exam anxiety is and the different ways we can manage this - in the run up to exams, on the day, and after the exam.

Creating a safe space

This technique can help to reduce stress and anxiety by visualising ourselves in a neutral, calm space. This video guides you through how to create this safe space.

Critical thinking: an introduction

A brief introduction to the idea of critical thinking - what it is, why you need to do it and how to go about it. This session will introduce you to the main concepts and suggest resources to help you improve your skills. There are opportunities to pause the recording and practice what you have learnt via some short activities within the session. This is a Panopto recording of a Library Skills for Success workshop.

Critical Writing

This webinar covers the essentials of critical writing: defining critical analysis, establishing the different types of analysis and how to deepen criticality through your writing. This is a Panopto recording of a live webinar.

Describing and summarising data

Content: Types of variables, tables and percentages, graphs

Finding diverse voices and sources of information 

This recording explores the current situation within academic publishing and literature databases and the challenges that may arise for authors trying to making their voices heard in research and published sources. We consider why diverse voices and sources of information are important to research and the challenges to identifying this content. We look at search tools and potential sources to begin to find diverse voices and touch on evaluating information that we find in sources outside of the usual academic peer-reviewed mediums.

Data : averages and distributions

Content: Averages, Distributions of variables, Percentiles

Data : Measures of Spread and Inequality

PGR-DMP: Data Management Plans for Doctoral Student

This is a mandatory course for all new first year Post Graduate Researchers (PGRs), but is available to all PGRs in Blackboard. Research data management is an important skill for all to help you keep your data safe, findable and reusable. The course aims to provide a general introduction for all disciplines and how to complete the PGR Data Management Plan (DMP) template. The course provides a certificate of completion to upload to PGR tracker and provide to your supervisor.

Datastream

Guides to help you find and download data. Datastream provides financial and economic data for countries and companies worldwide, including equities, market indices, company accounts, macroeconomics, bonds, foreign exchange, interest rates, commodities and derivatives. The earliest data is from 1950. Only covers publicly listed companies.

Dissertations: combining structure and formatting (Word for PC)

Learn about best practice when formatting a long and structured document such as a dissertation. This is the first of three sessions run by iSolutions/the Library on using Word for PC to create your dissertation. This workshop allows you to get the very best out of Word functionality. By the end of the session you will have an understanding of what Styles are and why they are key to using Word; how to apply and modify key Styles; make use of the additional benefits of Styles - Navigation Pane, Table of Contents, Cross-reference and accessibility features. This is a Panopto recording of a Library Skills for Success workshop.

Dissertations: page layout (Word for PC)

Learn about best practice in Word (for PC) when using page layout features. This is the third of three hands-on sessions using Word for PC to create your dissertation. This session is all about ensuring that you can correctly set up your file paper size and margins; create landscape pages for large tables or diagrams; create running content such as page headers and page numbering; ensure content that you want to appear together stays together. This is a Panopto recording of a Library Skills for Success workshop.

Dissertations: using tables and graphics (Word for PC)

Learn about best practice in Word (for PC) when including data or graphical evidence. Such objects should be clearly labelled, referenced and made accessibility compliant. This is the second of three sessions run by iSolutions/the Library using Word for PC to create your dissertation. This session is all about ensuring that you can: convert text to tables; repeat your table's header row; sort data inside a table; use referencing tools such as captions, cross-references and tables of figures; add accessibility features. This is a Panopto recording of a Library Skills for Success workshop

EMBASE

Online presentation which provides an introduction to using EMBASE, a leading clinical medicine and biomedical database. This is divided into sections so you can jump straight to the feature you want to learn about without going through the whole presentation.

Endnote Essential Training

This comprehensive course from Lynda.com  will get you up and running with the desktop version of EndNote X8 for Windows users.  

In addition to completing the above course we recommend that you watch the following videos for supplementary help 

Endnote - exporting from databases

We recommend that you import references directly from your chosen database rather than using the online search with in EndNote. Here are some examples:

◦Export from Web of Science to Endnote  (03:06min)
◦Export from Google Scholar to Endnote (01:16min)
◦Export from COPAC to Endnote  (01:00min) - COPAC cross-searches the catalogues of major UK and Irish libraries including may universities, national libraries and specialist libraries. This would be more straight forward that the ISBN search suggested in the Lynda.com course

ERIC (Education Resources Information Centre)

Introductory videos, search tips and other guidance on how to use this database. ERIC is the world's most widely used index to educational-related literature.

Evaluating information

By the end of  this activity you should be able to:

- recognise the difference between 'good' and 'bad' information
- think critically and understand how to find quality, reliable information
- know how to get more help if you need it

Was this training useful to your studies?

Excel (for PC)

This course will provide help with creating graphs and charts using Excel. Its divided into bite sized chunks so you can jump straight to the feature you want to learn without going through the whole course.

Excel (for Mac)

This course will provide help with creating graphs and charts using Excel. Its divided into bite sized chunks so you can jump straight to the feature you want to learn without going through the whole course.

Goal Setting for Academic Writing

This learning sequence will help you with the why, what and how of crafting effective mini-goals to keep your writing projects on track, whether an essay for a module or your degree's final dissertation/thesis. It includes a series of short videos, text recaps of key ideas, and quick activities. This resource may be especially useful if you are struggling with writing procrastination, perfectionism, or time management.

IEEE Xplore (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers)

A series of video tutorials which provide tips and techniques for using IEEE Xplore. IEEE Xplore provides full text access to all IET and IEEE journals and conferences since 1988 and all current IEEE standards.

Keeping on top of it all: managing your research data/material

Materials and/or data which you gather for your assignments can quickly build up. This online session aims to help you keep on top of it, all by giving you hints and tips for good practice which will prepare you for larger research projects as you progress in your studies. PGRs should refer to the Data Management Plan on Blackboard .

Lexis Library

PDF guides which describe how to use Lexis Library. In addition to reports and legislation, Lexis Library searches for journals, and the full-text of Halsbury’s Statutes and Halsbury’s Laws. We also subscribe to the Lexis Tax Reference Library, which contains a collection of specialist reports, journals and other materials. Access this via Lexis Library ‘Practice Areas’ tab.

LinkedIn Learning

Software and business skills instruction videos. This resource provides unlimited access to thousands of online courses covering IT software and business skills.

MEDLINE (EBSCOhost)

Available through MEDLINE's platform provider EBSCO, these video guides demonstrate basic and advanced search techniques. MEDLINE covers literature from around the world since 1946. It has a comprehensive set of controlled vocabulary called Medical Subject Headings (MeSH terms).

MEDLINE (Ovid)

Online presentation which provides an introduction to using MEDLINE, the world's best-known medicine and clinical science database, covering literature from around the world since 1946. Med has a comprehensive set of controlled vocabulary called Medical Subject Headings (MeSH terms)

Metrics: Introduction to Bibliometrics

Aimed at researchers this series of Panopto videos covers: why metrics are important to you and the University; responsible metrics - some basic principles and limitations; using metrics to help decide where to publish; tracking how your work is being cited, and finding author metrics in Web of Science and Scopus. Accessible to all Southampton staff and students with their university login.

Mindfulness

Here are a selection of short videos by Linkedin Learning to help you learn how to practice Mindfulness.

Muscular relaxation technique

Learning to relax can take practise - this short session guides you through the muscular relaxation technique which can help release tension in the body.

Nexis

Tutorials which show you how to use the key features of Nexis. Nexis offers Full text access to newspapers and current affairs publications from all over the world, including the Financial Times. Articles from 1970s to current. IMPORTANT: includes low quality newspapers, so we recommend you search specific publications (see help guide). Also includes company profiles, industry news, country reports, biographies and legal cases.

Open Access - making the most of Open Access publishing

Aimed at researchers this page contains Panopto videos and other online training to help you make your journal articles open access, and to find legal open access versions of paywalled articles. Accessible to all Southampton staff and students with their university login.

Passport

User Guide which provides a detailed overview of how to use Passport, allowing you to find the information you need more efficiently. Also, see the Library's guide on Getting Started with Passport. Passport provides statistics and in depth reports on companies, industries and countries worldwide. Includes consumer trends, demographic data, socioeconomic data, macroeconomic data and global reports.

Pendulating Technique

This video talks through the Pendulating Technique, which involves shifting your attention back and forth between place in your body. This technique can help to reduce stress and anxiety.

Powerpoint (for PC)

Learn how to create, edit and share presentations with Powerpoint. This course is divided into bite sized chunks so you can jump straight to the feature you want to learn without going through the whole course.

Powerpoint (for Mac)

Learn how to create, edit and share presentations with Powerpoint. This course is divided into bite sized chunks so you can jump straight to the feature you want to learn without going through the whole course.

Refine Your Writing: Better Proofreading

This self-paced learning sequence demonstrates a range of effective strategies you can use to proofread your writing, whether you are polishing up a cover letter or preparing to submit your thesis.

Proofreading: the basics

This session explains the differences between editing and proofreading. It will focus on giving practical tips for proofreading your written work to pick up errors in spelling, formatting, punctuation etc. There are opportunities to pause the recording and practice some of the techniques you have learnt via some short activities within the session. This is a Panopto recording of a Library Skills for Success workshop. Please download the practice text for use whilst watching the recording.

PsycINFO

Available through PsycINFO's platform provider EBSCO, these video guides demonstrate basic and advanced search techniques. PsychINFO is the key database for psychology and related subjects. Contains references and abstracts for scholarly journal articles, books, book chapters and dissertations, some dating back to the 1600s.

Referencing

By the end of this activity you should be able to:
•understand what referencing is and why it is important
•understand when you must reference
•find out which referencing style you must use

Was this training useful to your studies?

Research methods – introduction

Starting out on your research project? Discover the essential information and skills that you will need: working with your supervisor, integrity in research, planning, literature review, time management, and data management.

Saving searches

(University of Southampton Content)

Need help keeping up to date with information? By the end of this tutorial you should be able to save your searches and set alerts.

ScienceDirect

Available through ScienceDirect's platform provider EBSCO, these video guides demonstrate basic and advanced search techniques. ScienceDirect provides full-text access to Elsevier published journal articles since 1995, selected journal backfiles and online books.

SciFinder

Short, targeted training materials which demonstrate the features and capabilities of SciFinder. Special topics for advanced users are also available. SciFinder is the online version of Chemical Abstracts, the main database for chemistry. It provides easy access substance and reaction information, patent and journal references.

SCOPUS

Learn about the features and tools of Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature: scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. It delivers a comprehensive overview of the world's research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities, Scopus features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research.

Basic literature searching techniques using databases

This workshop will help you to identify which databases to use for your assignments.  Using the multidisciplinary database Proquest One Academic, you will learn step by step, how to create an effective search strategy using operators, syntax, and filters. This is a Panopto recording of a live webinar.

Search strategies

(University of Southampton Content)

By the end of this activity you should should be able to:

-explain what a search strategy is
-idenfity key concepts and key words in a search question
-use search tools and techniques, such as Boolean operators, phrase searching and wildcards

Was this training useful to your studies?

Skills for Study

Skills for Study offers an series of Interactive study skills modules, topics include: Getting ready for academic study; Critical thinking skills; Reading and note-making; Writing skills; Referencing and understanding plagiarism; Groupwork and presentations; Confidence with numbers

SPSS Statistics Essential Training

Online learning course which shows you how to use SPSS to calculate statistics and more. This course is divided into bite sized chunks so you can jump straight to the feature you want to learn about without going through the whole course.

Subject guides

Tutorial which shows you how to find library resources specifically aimed at your subject area using the subject guides on the Library's website.

Subject/thesaurus searching

(University of Southampton Content)

This tutorial takes you through some additional tools which will help you to develop your searching skills. It covers subject heading, thesaurus searching and citation searching.

Systematic Reviews

Aimed at researchers, this Libguide page covers the steps involved in carrying out a systematic review in ten key stages, from planning and scoping to quality assessment and writing up. It contains short Panopto videos and links to other resources, supplemented with a Padlet for feedback as well as exercises to follow through to check understanding. Accessible to all. No login required.

Theses - what you need to know

Aimed at researchers these recorded Panopto presentations cover key information about your thesis including copyright, clearing use of third-party copyright, embargoes and dissemination as well as how to prepare and submit your final thesis during the COVID-19 pandemic. University of Southampton staff and students will need to login with their university login to view the presentation on ‘Thesis and copyright’.

Theses - final thesis submission

Aimed at researchers this presentation discusses how to prepare and submit your final thesis during the COVID-19 pandemic, under the revised regulations. It is available alongside other material on our Thesis training page: http://library.soton.ac.uk/thesis/training

The "STOP!" technique

Feelings of stress often bring tension in the body. The STOP technique helps us to reduce tension to a managable level.

Understanding your reading lists

By the end of this activity you should be able to identify the different resources on your reading lists and use tools and approaches to find resources on your reading lists

Was this training useful to your studies?

University Thesis template using Word

Created by iSolutions this online guide provides support with using MS Word for formatting a thesis and using the University template. .

Web of Science

Video tutorials designed to provide training on using Web of Science (previously called the Web of Knowledge). Topics covered include search tips, setting up citation alerts and refining and analysing search results. Web of Science provides access to a number of databases including Web of Science Core Collection (covering engineering, science, health, social science, humanities, etc.), BIOSIS (biological & biomedical science) and Inspec (physics, computing, electrical & electronic engineering, etc.).

Westlaw

A series of training videos and interactive lessons which introduce various aspects of using Westlaw. Westlaw holds a wide range of reports, legislation, journals and other publications. It offers various research tools, including ‘case analysis’ which shows the history and subsequent treatment of individual UK cases.

WRDS (Wharton Research Data Services)

Advice on registering, downloading data and getting further help from WRDS which provides access to a range of third party business intelligence data.

Word 2016 (for PC)

This course will take you through the basics of Word from creating, editing, adding images, creating tables to formatting text and tracking changes. It is divided into bite sized chunks so you can jump straight to the feature you want to learn without going through the whole course.

Word 2016 (for Mac)

This course will take you through the basics of Word from creating, editing, adding images, creating tables to formatting text and tracking changes. It is divided into bite sized chunks so you can jump straight to the feature you want to learn without going through the whole course.

Writing Abstracts

This video covers the essentials of writing an abstract: understanding their purpose in the researching process, their structure and constraints, and how they vary in style and by discipline.

Writing the Dissertation: Dissertation Q&A

This video answers those burning questions about the dissertation, such as how to structure an introduction, how many references should be included in the literature review and the difference between the results and discussion.

Writing the Dissertation: the Literature Review

This webinar covers the essentials of writing a literature review chapter, or section, for a dissertation, or extended piece of writing: the conventions of a literature review, structural approaches and synthesis and techniques for managing a range of information. This is a recording of a live webinar.

Writing the Dissertation: the Methods or Methodology

This webinar covers the essentials of writing a methods or methodology chapter for a dissertation, or extended piece of writing: the difference between the methods and methodology, what's expected and practical ways of structuring the chapter in a clear and coherent way. This is a recording of a live webinar.

Writing the Dissertation: the Introduction and Conclusion

This webinar covers the essentials of writing the introduction and conclusion of a dissertation, or extended piece of writing: how to structure both chapters, or sections, what to include, and not include, and the symbiotic relationship between the two. This is a recording of a live webinar.

Writing the Dissertation: the Results and Discussion

This webinar covers the essentials of writing the results and discussion chapters, or chapter, for a dissertation, or an extended piece of writing: understanding the overarching purpose of both chapters, or sections, in the context of the dissertation, defining the difference, and relationship, between the results and discussion and establishing a structural template for the discussion. This is a recording of a live webinar.

Writing Introductions and Conclusions

This webinar covers the essentials of writing effective introductions and conclusions: how to structure them, what to include, and not include, and the symbiotic relationship between the two. This is a Panopto recording of a live webinar.

The Basics of Structure

This webinar covers the essentials of structure: structuring clear and coherent paragraphs, writing effective topic sentences and understanding paragraphs as building blocks. This is a Panopto recording of a live webinar.

Wellbeing

Here are a collection of short videos on Linkedin Learning about general wellbeing, they contain tips and advice about important aspects required to stay well.