Effective Literature Searching: refresher / summary sessions for MSc students – booking now available.

These take place on:
Tues 30th May 15:00 to 17:00
Weds 31th May 09:30 to 11:30
Fri12nd June 13:00 to 15:00 

Mon 19th June 13:00 to 15:00
Tues 20th June 09:30 to 11:30
Weds 21st June 15:00 to 17:00

All the above session are the same – you only need to book on one session.

HOW TO BOOK
Step 1: please book a place on any session at https://studentbookings.lshtm.ac.uk/index.php/courses/library (all times are BST).

Step 2: you will be emailed with the Zoom link 30 minutes before the session starts.

Who should attend:
MSc students (both ‘intensive’ & ‘distance learning’ programmes) who did not have literature searching sessions scheduled in your MSc Programme timetable: please sign up these sessions.
MSc students who have already attended an Effective Literature Searching training session, and want to have a refresher session, you are also welcome to sign up.

NB: if you have attended a literature searching session as part of your MSc Programme, you might prefer to re-watch the recording of that session on your Programme’s Moodle page, or the MSc Public Health recording on the Library Moodle page.

These sessions are repeated on each day listed above. Just choose whichever session works best for your timetable / timezone.

The refresher sessions cover:
Constructing a literature search strategy.
– Developing search concepts, search terms & building your search.
– Selecting search concepts & keywords/search terms.
– Choosing the right resources to search (OVID Medline will be the main database used in these sessions).
– Using Boolean logic to structure an effective search.
– How to use search tools (including truncation, wildcards and proximity searching).
– Using subject headings: what are they? Why do you need to use them? How do you include them in your search strategy?
– Using search filters and limits.
– Running your search & transferring it across databases.
– Finding full text – what if LSHTM library doesn’t have what I need?
– Planning & managing your information – get organised & save time!

Comments from previous years’ attendees:
“really great course”
“very good and very helpful”
“it’s fab!”

If you cannot attend any of the above sessions, a recording of one session will me made available on the Library Moodle page, where you will also find:
– recordings of full Literature Searching sessions.
– presentations on grey literature and other aspects of the searching process.
– plus self-teach mini-modules that you can work through in your own time.

A note about ‘1 to 1 sessions’ – if you haven’t already had a 1 to 1 appointment with a Librarian, you can still book one to discuss your own search strategy for your MSc Project. These can be booked online via https://studentbookings.lshtm.ac.uk/index.php/courses/library or via the Library Moodle page https://ble.lshtm.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=88 .

If you have any questions on the above sessions, please contact us via ServiceDesk or email us at: library@lshtm.ac.uk.

Russell Burke & Kate Perris
Assistant Librarians.

About Russell Burke

Russell Burke, Assistant Librarian, Library & Archives Service, LSHTM. I began my career working in academic libraries in 1998 and from 2010 I have taught information literacy and literature searching to students, researchers and academic staff, from basic search skills to developing detailed search strategies for Systematic Reviews. I joined LSHTM in December 2016. I am a CILIP accredited professional Librarian (MA Information Services Management) and an Associated Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. View all posts by Russell Burke →