Level up your research skills

As a librarian, it is really rewarding to facilitate the MyResearch seminar series. It is true that we take advantage of the face-to-face time to impart a lot of what we know about the rapidly changing world of information and scholarly publishing. However, it also gives us the opportunity to learn more about graduate research projects, and watch the inevitable skills swapping that takes place among students.

The number one comment that we get after each of the four-part series comes to an end is something like, “I wish I had known all of this when I first started.” Luckily, it is never too late to learn in life, and these skills in particular will serve you well past graduation.

Sign up for MyResearch today and join fellow students and librarians this February.

I look forward to seeing you there!

April

Science & technology research in Canada

The Council of Canadian Academies recently released a report entitled, The State of Science and Technology in Canada, 2012.  It reveals the 6 research fields in which Canada is among the best.  These are:

  • Clinical Medicine
  • Historical Studies
  • Information and Communication Technologies
  • Physics and Astronomy
  • Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
  • Visual and Performing Arts

For more information, read the report or watch the video below:

“Gen Y” Doctoral students

The UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the British Library have just released a major (17,000 students) study of the behaviors and beliefs of “Generation Y” (i.e.born 1983-1992) doctoral students involving social media, information access, and related matters. The students were surveyed over a three year period to set a benchmark for the research behavior of that generation.

Here are some of the results from the report:

  • “For example, 23% of all the students have made passive use of online forums, but only 13% have taken an active part in any discussions: 23% followed blogs, but only 9% maintained a blog themselves. Active take-up of institutionally-provided open web resources is also low, with students requesting more information about technologies and applications such as Google Scholar, cloud computing, EndNote and Mendeley.”
  • “Other findings from the report include a continuing lack of understanding about the nature of open access.”
  • “The study also highlighted a marked dependency on published secondary sources rather than primary sources, such as archival materials and data sets, as the basis of students’ own original research, regardless of discipline.”

To get more information you can download the report from: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/reports/2012/researchers-of-tomorrow.pdf

Image from:Journal de Montréal/Québec édition du mardi 22 janvier 2008.