Information skills
Information skills are a key requirement for any student or researcher as they will need to draw on these at all stages of planning and preparing a piece of coursework or research. Information skills are a transferable set of skills for students at university and after graduation.
With effective information skills you will be able to:
- identify the information you need
- select the most appropriate places to look for this information
- plan a search
- use subscription and freely available resources to conduct your search
- evaluate the results you retrieve and their relevance to your research.
The Library offers a range of information skills training sessions which run throughout the year. There are also guides, factsheets and tutorials you can refer to.
Information Skills training sessions, drop-ins and one-to-one appointments
The Academic Support team offers a range of information skills training sessions. The Subject Liaison Librarian for your School can deliver these via your lectures and seminars. Additionally, Subject Liaison Librarians are happy to conduct general drop-ins or meet with students / academics for one-to-one appointments.
Sessions may include:
- Introduction to library resources
- How to plan a search
- Practical exercises using the resources
- Exporting references to bibliographic software
- Current awareness tools
If you are an academic wishing to organise information skills sessions for your module, contact your Subject Liaison Librarian Training sessions can be tailored to your needs.
In addition sessions are provided for staff and students on issues such as copyright and academic skills such as referencing. Sessions specifically aimed at postgraduate students and researchers are detailed here. Sessions specifically aimed at academic staff will also be advertised by Staff Development.
Guides, factsheets and online tutorials
Guides are available on:
- general topics, such as using the e-Library and using the catalogue
- specific topics, such as using individual databases,
- developing skills in relation to specific areas of research
Introductory factsheets are available for each subject area and give a broad overview of the key resources. We update online training materials so check regularly for new content.
Useful links and resources
You may also find it useful to use the Study Skills collection, held in the ASK (Academic Skills) area on the ground floor.
The Library’s Academic Skills page includes information on resources and support for academic skills such as essay writing, and mathematics and statistics.
