Literature search workshops hosted by the Research Commons

The Research Commons is pleased to announce the completion of another successful workshop. The literature search workshop on 13 April 2019 was held at both the Merensky 2 Library, Hatfield Campus and the Sir Arnold Theiler Building, Onderstepoort Campus. Faculty groupings were divided among six capable speakers who were very well received. 

The purpose of the literature search workshop was to teach students how to conduct a proper literature search in their relevant research field. Four subject-specific workshops were presented simultaneously at two UP campuses, so as to give as many students as possible the opportunity to attend. At Hatfield there were separate workshops presented: one workshop for students of Natural and Agricultural Sciences coupled with Engineering, Built Environment and IT; a second workshop for students of the Humanities, Economics and Management, and Law; and a third workshop for Education. The workshop at the Onderstepoort Campus covered literature searches in Health and Veterinary Sciences.

The Research Commons also made use of LibCal for the first time, which made managing RSVP’s, reminders, and event registrations a much less daunting task. We would like to thank Carike Schoeman who provided much needed training and assistance with the LibCal system. Despite a few minor hiccups, the LibCal system was more easily accessible and navigable than the system previously used, especially concerning the reminder email function and the smoothness of the event registration process. The check-in process was fully digital, saving some time and allowing us to build a database of attendees and not only respondents to the invite. Unfortunately, we were not yet able to use LibCal for the follow-up questionnaires and made use of Google Forms as we have done in the past, in order to obtain feedback from the workshop attendees. Students who attended the workshops expressed their appreciation for the training provided and requested that the presented material be made available for future reference and further training.

The Research Commons would like to thank Rianie van der Linde, Liesl Stieger, Sonja Delport, Maggie Maropane, Mike Volschenk and Adrienne Warricker for giving their time and expertise to the betterment of our services and the growth of our patrons. We hope to repeat this workshop in the future to still greater appreciation, with the aim of imparting our valuable knowledge to a growing postgraduate student base.