| Research and Web 2.0 Workshops |  |
Research | Web 2.0 and Social Networking
Research Workshops
Whether it’s learning how to start the research process, knowing how to think critically, the importance of citing sources, or how to use one of our many databases, students will be able to drop by any of these free workshops and gain the skills they need to be successful with their assignments.
Below is a description of the workshops along with their dates and times. Except as noted, the research workshops are held in the Signal Peak Campus Library. For those listed as a webinar, these will be held online and have a limited number of participants. To sign up for one of the webinars, please email us at cal@centralaz.edu and let us know which workshop you would like to attend.
If you would like to attend a workshop but you are not able to make it to one of the scheduled times, please let us know and we'd be happy to schedule a session at your time and location.
Jumpstart Your Research Process – This workshop will help students understand the different benefits of the types of information resources that the CAC libraries make available-print, online, and multimedia, in addition to differentiating these resources from non-library internet web sources. They’ll also learn about coming up with keywords, the difference between keywords and subjects, and identifying scholarly resources.
September 9 (Wednesday), 11am
Webinar: October 13 (Tuesday), 6pm
November 5 (Thursday), 3pm
Research Strategies 101 – In this workshop we’ll explore how to break a student’s thesis statement into search concepts that they can then string together into an advanced research strategy. Students will learn how and when to use “AND” and “OR” to narrow and broaden their searches, how to effectively use wildcard functions, and critically evaluate the information that they find to determine if it effectively addresses their research question.
October 20 (Tuesday), 11am
Thinking Critically – It's becoming more and more important to think about the world around us. We'll explain to students why information providers of all types try to persuade us, the techniques they use and how to identify them, and which information sources you can reliably use. The use of language, statistics, and logic are just a few of the areas we will examine.
September 24 (Thursday), 3pm
November 3 (Tuesday), 11am
Evaluating Online Resources – Students will gain an understanding of the differences between the information they find using library subscription databases and websites found through an internet search engine. Then, using five standard evaluative criteria, students will learn how to determine if the websites they find are credible and accurate.
Webinar: September 15 (Tuesday), 6pm
October 28 (Wednesday), 11am
November 19 (Thursday), 3pm
The Importance of Being Earnest: Citing Sources – Students often have difficulty understanding why and when they need to cite their resources. This workshop will help them understand the importance of citations and how to follow the MLA and APA citation styles.
Webinar: September 29 (Tuesday), 6pm
October 29 (Thursday), 3pm
December 2 (Wednesday), 11am
Intro to the Library – Using a self-guided scavenger hunt, students will learn what types of resources they can find in the library, how to find them, and how to get help from the librarians when they need it.
Self-guided – anytime during the semester
Intro to Reference Resources – This hands-on workshop is a basic introduction to the various types of library reference resources that are available to students, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and general reference works in online and print formats.
October 1 (Thursday), 3pm
The “How to Use” Series
In this series of workshops, students will learn how to effectively use the various online information resources that are available through the library. Students will learn about the types of information that can be found within library resources, and how to perform different types of searches for information, locate and check out books, and save and print articles.
Online Journal Articles and Electronic Book databases
Available Online (Coming Soon!)Online Catalog for Finding Books in the Library
Available Online (Coming Soon!)Formatting Your Research in Microsoft Word
Times to be announcedPresenting Research through Microsoft Powerpoint
Times to be announced
Web 2.0 and Social Networking Workshops
Web 2.0 and Social Networking sites provide interactivity between the creators of the site’s content and those that are visiting it and the ability to find others online with similar interests. There’s more to this technology than having a MySpace or Facebook page, however. These workshops will explain the concept of blogging, using wikis to collaborate, and using the web to organize the “stuff” in your life. You’ll also have the chance to create your own social spaces online.
The following is a description of the workshops along with their dates and times. All of the social networking workshops will be held on the Signal Peak Campus in the O Building in Room 109.
Sharing Ideas, Texting – In our world of mobile devices, do the concepts of “texting” and “tweeting” sound like foreign languages? We’ll talk about communicating in 140 characters or less, why it’s become so popular, and review a glossary of “txt” terms.
Times to be announced
Sharing Ideas, Blogging – Everyone has stories, ideas, and opinions. Learn how to share them with others through blogging. Discover what blogs are, how to find blogs with similar interests to yours, and how to start blogging yourself. We’ll also talk about RSS feeds and how you can use them to subscribe and keep up with blogs and other sites that use feeds.
Times to be announced
Collaborating with Others – A wiki is more than Wikipedia – it’s a way to collaborate with others online. Attend this workshop to find out what a wiki is, how it got its funny name, and how you can create your own wiki. You’ll also learn about RSS feeds and how you can use them to subscribe to wikis and other sites that use feeds.
Times to be announced
Organizing Your "Stuff" – Explore the world of social networking that goes beyond blogs and wikis. Discover how you can use the web to organize and share your documents, links to your favorite websites, the books you own, and even your entire life. We'll look at sites like del.icio.us, LibraryThing, GoogleDocs, and Evernote.
Times to be announced