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Bluford Library Online Workshops Spring 2024

Registration Information

  • Faculty/Staff 
    After clicking on chosen workshop date, faculty will be directed to learn.ncat.edu to continue the registration process. The link to the Zoom event will be sent via email. Alternatively, faculty can locate Bluford Library workshops inside learn.ncat.edu and register directly from that portal.  
     
  • Students 
    After clicking on chosen workshop date, students will be directed to a form to continue the registration process. The link to the Zoom event will be sent via email. 

Digital/E-Portfolios

Facilitator: Forrest Foster, ffoster@ncat.edu, 285-4153
This workshop will provide an overview of the different types of e-portfolios in higher education and will discuss the applicability of e-portfolio use in a classroom setting, whether face-to-face or virtual. E-portfolios are used in many academic settings, and creating an e-portfolio is particularly useful for students in a variety of ways. E-portfolios can be a personal tool for storing, organizing, reflecting on, and sharing items or artifacts that represent your learning. Students can include documents, graphics, audio files, videos, presentations, and coursework to demonstrate skills in certain areas. The Wix platform will be highlighted during this workshop series, and supplemental digital tools will be used and discussed as well. 

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Literature Review

Facilitator: Harvey Long, hdlong@ncat.edu, 285-4185 
What is a literature review? What purpose does it serve in research?  Join Bluford Library to discuss strategies for conducting a literature review. Along the way, we will explore library services you may not know about and learn how to connect with librarians in your subject area for more in-depth help finding information. (Approximately 60 minutes)

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Citation Management Using RefWorks

Facilitator: John Teleha, teleha@ncat.edu, 285-4183
With ProQuest’s RefWorks citation management software, students, faculty, staff, and other members of the N.C. A&T community will learn how this cloud-based application can reduce the time and effort needed to produce a reference list and/or place proper in-text citations in a paper for a class assignment, Master's Thesis, PhD Dissertation, collaborative journal article, and/or grant proposal. Specific skills include:

  • Importing & saving citations from databases.
  • Attaching PDFs to these citations.
  • Inserting citations directly into word processing software (Microsoft Word or Google Docs) using one of over 6,000 citation styles.
  • Exporting from RefWorks to create a "Quick Bibliography".
  • Organizing and sharing references.

Users do NOT need to download or install any software, although there are plugins available for the RefWorks Citation Manager functions in Word and Google Docs. Users only need to create an account and then login at https://refworks.proquest.com/ using their A&T AggieOne information. (Approximately 60 minutes)

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Using AI Tools for Your Research

Facilitator:  Katherine Howell, khowell2@ncat.edu, 285-4142 and Tracey Bridges, thbridges@ncat.edu, 285-2869
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are currently a hot topic in higher education. Did you know there are tools you can use to simplify your research process? This interactive workshop will allow you to explore different AI tools and how to use them to brainstorm a topic, search the literature, and more. We will focus on chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard, as well as search tools like Elicit and Semantic Scholar. We will also briefly discuss ethical concerns related to the use of AI.

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Data Management Planning for Researchers

Facilitator: David Rachlin, djrachlin@ncat.edu, 285-4223
Are you applying for a research grant or beginning a research study? If you don’t have a Data Management Plan (DMP), you’re going to need one! All federal funding agencies now require DMPs. Join us to see how data management planning improves the quality of your research project and benefits all members of the research team, as well as other scientists around the world. This workshop will cover the basics of comprehensive data management planning, including storage of and global access to your data. (Approximately 75 minutes) 

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Research Impact: Assessing and Tracking Your Research

Facilitator: Tiffany Russell, tbrussel@ncat.edu, 285-4191 
Do you want to know what kind of impact your published research is making in your discipline? Do you want to plan your research trajectory? Looking to publish in the top journals but do not know where to start?   Join Bluford Library to learn how you can track, analyze, and visualize the impact of your research. We will explore research impact tools that are easy to use, and which provide a variety of options for analyzing your research engagement. These tools also provide opportunities to network with other researchers in your field and identify potential collaborators. Research impact data can also be analyzed on an institutional basis, which can aid campus decision making. (Approximately 60 minutes) 

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Using ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) to Establish a Strong Researcher Identity

Facilitator: Tiffany Russell, tbrussel@ncat.edu, 285-4191 and Iyanna Sims, iyanna@ncat.edu, 285-4227
If someone "googled" you to learn more about your research and expertise, would they get a clear picture of who you are as a researcher and the contributions you have made within your field of study? Taking the time to ensure you have a strong research identity can yield numerous benefits such as providing a sense of focus and direction for your research, demonstrating expertise in your area of research, and helping you to develop a strong network system. Creating an ORCID iD, a unique, open digital identifier, will help you to create and maintain a strong research identity. The ORCID iD also helps funders, publishers, scholarly societies, and other researchers find and distinguish your work from others. This workshop will provide an overview of ORCID, instructions on how to create an ORCID iD, and other practical tips on establishing a strong research identity.

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Open Educational Resources and Course Adopted Texts

Facilitator: Franklin Robinson, fcrobins@ncat.edu, 285-4210
With textbook costs increasing with each new edition published, now is the perfect time to plan to lower textbook costs in the future. Open educational resources (OERs) and Course Adopted Texts are great alternatives to traditional textbooks. Research suggests that students and faculty exposed to OERs view these resources as comparable to traditional textbooks in terms of quality. Studies have also shown that OERs can dramatically lower the cost of educational resources which can positively affect student expenses and debt rates. Bluford Library offers access to a database called Faculty Select to help faculty explore textbook alternatives that save students money. Learn about how to use licensed library ebooks and openly licensed materials via Faculty Select instead of costly textbooks. (Approximately 60 minutes)

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Using Covidence for Systematic and Scoping Reviews

Facilitator: Katherine Howell, khowell2@ncat.edu, 285-4142
As a graduate student or faculty researcher, you may want to perform a review for publication. This workshop will help prepare you for review projects. First, we will briefly discuss different review methodologies, including systematic and scoping reviews. Next, we will explore Covidence, a tool that can help simplify the review process. Covidence is a cloud-based tool with the ability to perform title/abstract screening, full-text screening, data abstraction, and quality assessment all in one place.

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Unlocking Your Publishing Potential: Library Services and Resources for Faculty and Student Authors

Facilitator: Iyanna Sims, iyanna@ncat.edu, 285-4227
Have you ever thought about publishing a monograph, white paper, starting a journal, or migrating an existing print publication to an online environment? Bluford Library can help! The Library supports the publishing of online journals, monographs, newsletters, technical report series, white papers, and other publications. This workshop will cover specific ways the Library can help you reach your publishing goal.   (Approximately 60 minutes)

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Decode: Copyright in the Digital Age!

Facilitator: Joanie Chavis, jchavis@ncat.edu, 285-4163
Ready to decode the mysteries of copyright, fair use, and user rights? Join us at the FD Bluford Library for an interactive workshop about empowering you to conquer the wild world of copyright. In a world overflowing with information, it's essential to know the rules of the game, and whether or not you are a research whiz, teaching guru, or an artist, we've got you covered. We will look at the public domain, open source, citation, and digitization to give you an idea of where to start. Join us as we maneuver copyright clarity! (Approximately 60 minutes)

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